Looks Can Kill
by MidoriEyes
Summary: Shuichi has to get in tip top shape for a magazine shoot by a very popular company! He takes a pill that gets him skinnier in less than a week, but as the pop star keeps getting thinner and THINNER, he and Yuki think that his health might be at stake!
1. Magazine Model

A/N: Okay, this is my first creepy story ever. At first, it won't seem that bad to yall, but once you get to the end, you'll se why it's so disturbing… anyway, here's the first chapter!

Chapter 1: Magazine Model

"I'VE DONE IT!" Shuichi shouted in the living room of his and Yuki's condo.

"And I'm sure you're very proud of losing your flower (like, 3 years ago), but, I. Need. Peace!" The novelist walked in casually with annoyance in his eyes. Apparently he'd been working on his latest book.

"Yuki! That's not what I meant! I mean that I finally got a gig with a big shot magazine company!" The boy did a little leap in the air.

"So? You've been in other magazine shoots before. Why's this one so special?"

"But this isn't just ANY magazine company. This is THE ONE!"

"Well, "the one" is about to cause your over-stressed lover to pop a blood vessel if his idiot of a boyfriend doesn't stop screaming!" Yuki's eye twitched. He wasn't sure how long he could hold out before he completely strangled the singer to death.

"But that's what it's called! The ONE is the most popular magazine companies in Japan right now! And I got a shoot there!" Shuichi spun around gleefully. This would boost BAD LUCK's ratings to the top of the charts for sure.

"Big whoop. So you'll be plastered on the cover of every one of their magazines for a few issues. What's the difference?"

"But in _this_ shoot, I'm going to be not just an advertisement for our band, but a model!" The vocalist popped his hip to the side and winked.

"Don't you always look like a-" The author caught himself before he finished the sentence. Though it wasn't his intent, Yuki didn't want the boy to think that he was complimenting him. That would REALLY get the baka fired up.

"So, since I'm going to be on the face of this new and upcoming issue of The ONE, I think I'll loose a few pounds before the shoot. You know, to keep in shape."

Yuki's eyes widened. "What! Are you kidding? You don't need to loose a few pounds! You're already slender enough as it is!" Crap. That one slipped.

"R-really? Aww, Yuki! I'm so happy you think that about me!" Shuichi clasped his hands together, dropping the copy of The ONE magazine onto the floor.

"What I MEAN is… your fans love your body build already, so why change it by getting skinnier (if it's at all possible)?"

"Well, I have been laying around lately and eating a lot of junk food… and I saw on TV that nowadays you can gain, like… 10 pounds on one cheeseburger!"

"Shuichi, that was on Sponge Bob Square-Pants."

"And?… Wait, how'd you know that?"

"You made me watch it with you last week, remember? I swear, that cartoon is on speed or something."

"Well, it could still happen! What if end up eating as many Krabby Patty's as Squidworth did? And it goes straight to my thighs?… and then I blow up!" The singer was absolutely absurd with worry. This gave Yuki a positively malevolent idea.

"Yeah. Hey, I heard that the calories in those "pocky" things you eat are raising in numbers."

"What! Really!"

"Uh huh. Heard it on the news myself. Might wanna lay off of those from now on."

"Well… it'll be hard, but if it's for The ONE…"

"And also, there's the soda… it's definitely not good for your system."

"R-right-"

"And let's not forget…"

Naming at least ten different foods and drinks that had suddenly risen by the numbers in calories and fats, Yuki had his fun in torturing his lover enough until he was satisfied.

"It's not fair! It's like the whole food industry is against me! How can all my favourite snacks be loaded with so many fats all of a sudden! How can strawberries be fattening! It's a fruit, isn't it!"

"Do you read the labels? On a box of strawberries, there are facts that tell you what the item is made of, right? Well, the stupid scientists like to use big, fancy words on idiots like you with these things to confuse people on what's what."

"So… sugar has more than one name?"

"Yeah. There's glucose, fructose… sugar cane, but I hope you have already known to associate that with sugar."

"Aaaagh! Why, oh Kami, why! Is this punishment! Did I do something wrong!"

"Yeah. You entered my life." Yuki rolled his eyes sarcastically, though Shuichi didn't seem to capture the hint of joke in his lover's voice.

"Yuki… that's mean." His head drooped and he sniffled.

"Sigh…" Here comes the water works. Maybe he should lay off teasing the baka for a while. "I didn't mean it, brat." Yuki slung an arm over the pop star and pulled him close. "You can never take a joke can you?" He said, the same emotionless look painted on his face.

"Sorry… it's just that you hardly ever joke." Shuichi rubbed his head.

The novelist noted that this was true. "Alright, whatever… but like I said, watch what you eat, or who knows what drastic changes could befall you before the shoot." He teased again, but Shuichi (like mentioned just now), couldn't tell that he was just joking with him.

"You're right! I gotta get started on that diet right away! Where's our scale? I need to see my weight!" Shuichi scurried into their bathroom, and moaned when he saw what the number on the contraption was. The older man that still stood in the living room, just sighed and chuckled under his breath. This week would certainly be entertaining.

A/N: Well, that's it! At least for this chapter. Hope you liked it so far. I'll be updating a lot, so keep checking! It's not too exciting now, but just you wait and see! **Please review! **


	2. StarCraving Hungry!

A/N: Well, Shuichi's lost it now and will do everything in his power to lose weight! But, is that necessarily a good thing? Hmmm… you'll have to find out later then, won't you? smiles Hm? attention is directed at the TV Oh boy… Aqua Teen is on… I've only seen so many episodes of that, and there's only a few that I like. It's kind of obnoxious… but anyway… I saw the preview for Naruto on Cartoon Network last night! Kakashi looked freak'in awesome! He's my favourite bishounen from that anime by the way. I LOVES HIM SO MUCH! I wonder how their voices will sound utter horror upon my face My friend said Naruto had a teenage boy's voice. I think he should have a more kiddish voice, like Luffie from One Piece or something. I've already seen episodes 1- 141 of Naruto in Japanese (my friend downloaded them for her friends, ain't that so sweet? glittery eyes), and it's very good, so I hope they don't edit or sensor out too much stuff… well, anyway… ON WITH CHAPTER 2!

Chapter 2: Star-Craving Hungry!

BAD LUCK was taking a break from their hard day of work so far in the lounge. Suguru was messing with some tunes in his head and writing them down on paper, while Hiro was snacking on some potato chips from the vending machine. Shuichi was watching a Nittle Grasper video, drooling at the dancing form on TV that was his idol.

"Hey Shuichi. Want some Lays?" His best friend asked, holding out the bag to the pile of pink goo in front of the television. Regaining his composure, the singer responded plainly.

"No thanks."

"…Um… okay." The red head reluctantly drew back his mini lunch and quirked an eyebrow. Since when did Shuichi ever refuse food? Even Suguru had to pause for a moment to think about what the vocalist had just said.

"Shuichi?" Hiro asked hesitantly.

"Yeah?" The boy's eyes still glued to the TV screen.

"Are you… feeling okay?"

"Never better! Why?"

Um, nothing. Just wondering since you don't seem to be hungry."

"…Hungry?" The pop star ceased his constant bouncing to the tune Ryuichi Sakuma was singing and lowered his head darkly.

"Uh, Shu? Y-you alright?" Hiro almost dropped his bag of chips in fright at the state his friend was in.

"…… You don't know… what it feels like…" Shuichi started out slowly, his band mates silently urging their leader to continue. "… to have been STARVING TO DEATH FOR ALMOST A WEEK NOW!" The boy turned around shakily, tears spewing out of this eyes and wearing the most pathetic looking face a human being could ever have.

"Shuichi? What are you talking about?"

"I haven't eaten hardly anything for a week now! All of my favourite foods… I can't eat them! I think I'm going to whither away Hiro! Sooner or later my body will be found in the park, rotting and empty from the lack of nourishment I've been craving!" He clung to the guitarist's shirt in agony, his pupils constricted in pain.

"Well, how come you can't eat anything?"

"Yeah. I've never seen you in such a sorry state, Shindou-san." Suguru folded his arms in irritation. With all the noise, he could hardly get any work done here!

"Well, you know that big photo shoot for The ONE in two weeks? I wanted to lose some pounds before I modelled for them, so I thought a diet would do me good. But then I found out that ALL of my favourite foods have all these sugars and fats in them! And now I can't eat them anymore until afterwards! If I go one more day without pocky I think I'll go insane!" He clutched at his stomach and slipped to the floor, trembling from his hunger.

"ALL the food you eat has that stuff in it? Wait, how do you know this?" Hiro brushed his chest off.

"Yuki told me… Even STRAWBERRIES have sugar in them Hiro! STRAWBERRIES! He cried.

"Uh, that's a fruit, Shuichi."

"But he said that…"

"Sigh… listen Shuichi. Whatever Yuki told you… it's not tr-"

"OKAY! Let's get back to work! Up and at'em Shindou! Get your vocal chords ready, because it's gonna be a loooong night! Remember, we still have two albums to finish!" The trigger-happy Mr. K barged through the door and pointed his gun upward at the ceiling.

#Later that evening#

"Tadaima." The boy called weakly throughout the house. His stomach growled to no end, but he couldn't let it get to him!

Yuki was puzzled over this dramatic flaw in Shuichi's usual genki attitude and emerged from his hibernation in the office to see what was wrong. "What's eating you?" He asked.

"Myself!" Shuichi wailed into the floor. He had collapsed a while ago from exhaustion.

"What are you moaning about brat?"

"I mean that my own insides are about to eat themselves because I'm so hungry!" The singer sat up and sniffled. "I didn't know that dieting could be so hard! Especially when you can't eat any of your favourite foods."

"Are you still going on about that? Look, you shouldn't be complaining about something like this. There are fatter people out there that are way bigger than you and actually NEED to lose some weight. Don't you think it's kind of selfish for you to be whining about something that's hardly your problem?"

"… But… The ONE…" He pouted. Was Yuki mad at him?

"Would you forget about that stupid magazine? It's not worth starving yourself over. If you want to eat something, then do it! I promise that you won't gain ten pounds just by eating one box of pocky."

"But… you said…"

"Sigh…" Apparently, he had taken it too far with the joking last time. Did his lover really believe that strawberries contained sugar? But if he told Shuichi that he was just teasing him all along, then the boy would definitely NOT be happy. No sex for a week… he couldn't even think of that…

"Well, have you tried working out WHILE you diet?"

"I thought singing was working out." He blinked.

"No. It's not. Working out is like going to the gym and running on the tread mill. Or doing push ups, or whatever. Have you ever done any of those?"

"No."

Yuki found that hard to believe for a minute, then said, "Then why don't you work out and eat at the same time? You'll be able to scarf down your childish food while losing weight in the gym. That doesn't sound so hard, does it?"

"No… but I've never been to a gym."

"Then I'll take you." The novelist regretted those word the first time they left his mouth.

"Really! You'll help me work out, Yuki?"

"I only said I would take yo-"

"And you'll become my personal trainer?"

"Now I did NOT say tha-"

"And that means you'll be able to spend more time with me!" The boy was ecstatic with joy now. And, unfortunately, Yuki just couldn't resist his koibito's pleads and whimpers for him to say yes.

"Sigh…… fine. I'll help you train and get into shape for that stupid shoot." The blonde rolled his eyes, wondering how the hell he would live through this.

"Yay! Yuki's going to be my personal trainer! All mine and no one else's!" He was getting pretty excited about this.

The author trudged back into his study and began typing his recent novel again. How had he gotten himself into this? Maybe if he hadn't made Shuichi so frantic about his body weight then he wouldn't have to show up in a public gym tomorrow with his lover in sweaty gym clothes, with his hair all messed up, and his shirt drenched with perspiration from the heat of working out, his tired gasping pants resonating from his lithe body, and those tight gym shorts forming perfectly around his curvy little ass… maybe this trip to the gym wouldn't be so degrading after all.

A/N: Woo hoo! Yuki's having some little fantasies about Shuichi at the gym! I wonder what kind of "work out" they'll be doing there… though it won't be all smutty, it will get pretty steamy in the next chapter. So look forward to it, kay!


	3. Public Pleasures

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! There's one thing I gotta let yall know… I don't write lemons, so there won't be one in here unfortunately. Sorry for all you yaoi fan girls! I like it too (SOME of it), but not writing it! There's an extent to how far I'll go in yaoi. One time, I purchased a manga called Golden Cain. It was a good story plot, but the yaoi in there was very explicit! I don't mind it, but it's not something to have lying around in your house, now is it?… nuh uh. That would not be good… and I gave up writing lemons long ago, but that doesn't mean I won't IMPLY them. But I hope you all like my fictions for the story and not just for the content! I'll reply to your reviews since I love my readers so much! So be checking at the end of each chapter for your pen names!

Chapter 3: Public Pleasure

The gym was one of the last places on earth Yuki would ever think of going to socialize. In fact, he didn't even _like_ socializing, so why go anyway? Because his baka of a lover thought his love handles were becoming love _seats_. If only he hadn't said all that crap about how every food in the world was fattening, then they wouldn't be here with a herd of sweaty, over-weight bozos trying to lose pounds that didn't exist on the boy's body. The only thing good about the place was the view.

Shuichi was dressed in form fitting, elastic, turquoise gym shorts with white stripes running down his thighs, a white muscle shirt that was too short to cover his tummy, and a lavender sweater with a hood over top. Along with his blue water bottle in hand and an orange sweat band strapped to his forehead, the vocalist looked like he belonged in one of those TV women work out shows that had the female trainers being way too overenthusiastic for their own health. But at least his lover actually looked cute in the outfit.

Yuki was wearing grey sweat pants, a navy blue short-sleeved T-shirt, and… accessories were not included with this certain package. Though he did like the gaping look he got from the singer when he came out with his tight, dark top… with SHORT SLEEVES! He had a right to look surprised since the boy hardly ever saw him with such little clothing on. It was quite "skimpy" for Yuki. But that's what Shuichi liked about it.

Once they arrived at the work out center, the two left their shoes at the door and walked in on cool, cushy padding for a floor.

"Wow! This feels really good Yuki! It's like being on the moon!" The pop star bounced on the balls of his foot while they approached the check in counter. Yuki had an uneasy look on his face. As he thought, nothing but a sticky crowd, all having heart attacks over their "devastating" work outs. He bet that some of the things instructors told these people on their videos was just a load of crap; a way to lower the population in this world by practically telling them to do the impossible and give them heart disease. Didn't they know that all anybody needs to do is get off their butt and walk?

After the man paid the woman at the service counter for their stay and use of equipment, he and his hyperactive lover headed over to a part of the gym that didn't have as many people clogging up the area. There was a treadmill, some weights, large rubber bands that you use to stretch with, and a mini exercise machine that practically did all this stuff in one so why bother? But Shuichi _insisted_ that they try them all. It had been a while since Yuki had done something physical, so it couldn't hurt to get back into shape. After all, what if he had to be at an emergency one day and his car broke down and he didn't have a ride and he'd have to run there? He definitely didn't want to be huffing and puffing once he reached his destination like a race horse, did he? That would ruin his perfect male image.

"Yuki! Let's try the big weights first! I've always wanted to see if I could hold a 20 ton one with one hand like those guys in the Saturday morning shows!" He was about to grab hold of one, until his lover pulled him back, causing him to fall to the ground with a thud. "Hey! What was that for?" He whined.

"Baka! You need to stretch first! That's the first thing you always have to do when you're about to work out. If you don't then you're likely to pull a muscle or something." He warned and threw a large, stretchy rubber band at him.

"Oh. My bad!" The boy laughed and stood up to try the thing on.

The novelist was already exercising his arms by pulling out the band to it's farthest reach, which wasn't hard to do, but paused when he saw Shuichi with the thing around his waist.

"Am I doing it right Yuki?" He blinked at the object on his stomach.

"What are you trying to do? Squeeze out your fat with that thing? You're supposed to hold it, not suffocate yourself with it. Take it off." He ordered.

"Oops!" The boy blushed in embarrassment and slipped it down his legs, catching it on his shorts. "Um, Yuki? Could you hold up my pants for me so they won't come off with this thing?"

"Sigh… you're hopeless…" The blonde muttered and held onto the signer's hem at the top. Shuichi struggled to get the band off and down his legs, though it was proving to be difficult. From this stand point, the author could easily cope a feel of the pop star's tight buttocks right here and now. But he didn't want to make a scene with his little lover in public, so he banished the perverted thought from his mind and focused at the task at hand.

The rubber band came off after a little tussle with it, and soon Yuki was teaching Shuichi the _proper_ way to stretch with the complicated device. That was the thing with this kid. He always made things seem harder than they really were.

"Okay! I'm done with the stretchy part! What's next?" He asked himself exuberantly, glancing at each item to see which one looked better. "Maybe the weights?" Shuichi bounded over to the padded seat and laid down on his back, the metal bars holding the 10 lb. weight above him. "This looks easy!" The boy grabbed the pole, lifted and…

"Oof!"

The vocalist blinked at the blonde beauty hovering over him, holding the weight pole as well. "Yuki? What're you doing?"

The novelist growled out, "Baka… you need… ngh… a spotter for this kind of thing…" He struggled to lift the heavy contraption up onto the bars and rest it there for the moment.

"A spotter? Why would I need spots to lift a weight Yuki?" He tilted his head, puzzled.

"Sigh… a spotter is someone who helps you lift the weight so it won't accidentally fall and smash your head in."

"Fall? But the heavy stuff is all the way on the ends of the-"

"If you're too WEAK to hold up the weights by yourself, then yes… it will come down on you." The author practically spelled it out so his lover would understand the situation.

"Oooooh… so you're my spotter?"

"Unless you think you can bare this thing with your scrawny little arms, then yup."

"Okay! Then I'm gonna call you Spot!" He chirped.

"Uh, no you will not."

"Fine! Then I'll do this myself." The pop star got hold of the pole and…

"Wait baka!" Yuki reached the contraption before it crushed his little Shu-chan's body.

"Alright Spot! Let's get to work!" The singer started pumping his arms up and down, with his lap dog to aid him. "Just… urg… a few more… Spot!" The boy was beginning to sweat now. He definitely wasn't used to this sort of thing. And if he was called 'Spot' one more time…

After that excruciating work out, the two sat down to rest and have a drink from their water bottles. Since the older man hadn't done much exercising yet, he didn't drink as much. But Shuichi guzzled down the whole container in one millisecond! Oh, the wonders of his lover, Shuichi.

"Yuki, I'm going to go get some more water at that vending machine over there, kay?" He hopped up with just as much energy as they first arrived, and threaded his way through the large body of people to buy another bottle. Yuki kept an eye on him carefully, making sure he didn't lose sight of him. Some muscle-heads were in a small group near the vending machines and were stealing glances at the boy's private features. Then, they started heading over toward Shuichi's direction. The writer did not like this at all, and made his way quickly to where his lover was receiving his refreshing drink.

"Hey, baby. Come here often?" The first muscle-head asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Huh? The singer turned to them, putting the lid back on his new bottled water.

"Why are you coming here, anyway? You've got a real nice body already." A shirtless lackey of the main guy added in.

"Um, thanks?" He didn't know how to take that last compliment.

"Instead, how about you and us go work on an exercise plan of our own?" The third man smiled seductively.

"Actually, I, uh, I'm already with-" The group got so close to him that the tight space made him drop his container. "Oops!" He bent down to pick it up, causing some of his money to roll onto the ground as well. The three stooges drooled at the luxurious view they got from Shuichi's back side. One reached out to touch the cushy look of the teenager's butt, but was stopped by a very irritated novelist.

"Hey, what-!"

He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence as Yuki gave the leader one of his "touch him, and your ass is mine" glares.

"Beat it."

Almost instantly, the three muscle-heads went back to their original activities.

"You idiot. If anybody starts randomly talking to you like that, you gotta-" Yuki ceased in what he was saying to witness an enticing picture of Shuichi still bent down, picking up his left over quarters from under the machine. Though he knew it looked wrong, the older man just couldn't take his eyes away! He was just as bad as those guys…

"There we go! I think I got them all… hm? Yuki! I was just coming back over there, you didn't have to come get me, silly!" He smiled and walked back over to their spot in the gym. The author felt a small blush creep up his cheeks.

'Dammit, get your mind out of the gutter Eiri Yuki!' He silently berated himself.

A few minutes later, the pop star tried the treadmill, but ended up accidentally pushing the button for the highest speed level and nearly flew off the thing. Luckily, Yuki was there to catch him, though they did get a few disturbing stares from the other customers. Next was the all in one work out center. It wasn't that bad, though Shuichi had a hard time doing some of the pulling, Yuki was there to help him out.

After what seemed like hours of exercising, the two took a break at the smoothie bar. It was in a separate room and no one else was in there, so it was the perfect place to sit back and have some peace and quiet, which Eiri thoroughly enjoyed.

"Phew! This was harder work than I thought it would be! Do you think I've lost any pounds yet, Yuki?" The vocalist took another slurp of his smoothie.

"I doubt it." 'You hardly have anything to lose.'

"I'm gonna go check the scale!" The boy ran over to the large scale at the corner of the room and stood on it steadily, waiting for the outcome.

"Oi, brat. You're not going to get results that fa-"

"Wah! Yuki, I'm still 130 lbs.!" He wailed and slumped to the floor in disappointment.

"You mean you're _only_ 130 lbs. You're not going to be able to lose pounds by just one work out."

"Really? But I thought that it burned carbs like magic!"

"…Where did you hear that? Exercising doesn't even work for some people."

"WHAT!" Apparently, the boy had never done this before in his LIFE. He didn't know the first thing about the way a body works! "Great. If it takes this long to lose weight, then I'll never get in shape for the shoot by next week! What am I gonna do Yuki!"

The novelist didn't answer him, just stared, completely emotionless.

"Yuki?" Shuichi waltzed up to his blank lover and stood in front of the sitting man. "Are you alright?" He waved a hand in front of him, attempting to bring the writer back to reality.

Before Shuichi could react, Yuki grabbed the singer's wrist and pulled the boy on top of his lap.

"Y-Yuki! What're you doing!" He saw a familiar glint of fiery passion in the blonde's eyes. A look that usually led them to certain desirable activities…

"Want me to teach you how to _really_ work out?"

"Huh?" He started catching his drift.

"It may result in some aches and pains in a few areas, but the aftermath is quite impressive." Yuki smirked as he saw how interested his little lover was becoming.

"Please, Yuki-sensei. What is the training that's required for this special work out?" He asked, his sultry voice rippling over Yuki's senses.

Oh… Shuichi calling him "Yuki-sensei" was the author's favourite pet name from now on. That phrase sent pleasurable chills crawling up his spine. It made him feel like he was master over his young companion. Being the dominant in their relationship was something he'd never regret having the role of for as long as he lived. Shuichi could say the same thing about his role… but at the moment, the two were preoccupied with another task at hand. This was going to be a long, hard, sweaty work out for sure.

A/N: Okay! I've finished this chapter! Hope you all liked it. Please keep reviewing! This fan fic has got me the quickest reviews in only a few days out of all of my stories! It really encourages me to write more. Thank you all!

**DEAR REVIEWERS**

**Fractured Dreams- What do you mean by you know how Shu feels about not being able to eat his fav. Foods? Are you on a diet too? If you don't want to tell, then you don't have to. Thanks for the positive review!**

**The Yaoi Pimpette- Tee hee! I like your pen name! It's funny J Anyway, thanks for putting me on your F.S. list! That means a lot to me!**

**Moonlit-Angel007- Well, be looking forward to more of this entertaining week! It'll be funny at first, but soon it'll get all distressing and turn into a mystery!**

**Ccsbrat- I hope you got the steaminess you wanted! Aren't they the greatest couple? And the sexiest…**

**Animelover eternal- The diet overboarding will begin later in the chapters. It'll be like the climax of the story, so look forward to it!**

**DemonicDragon666- LOL! Yes, Yuki's dirty thoughts crack us all up! He truly is a pervert at heart. I mean, what boys aren't?**

**Hokage- Waaaah! I want strawberry pocky! Why didn't you share L JK!**

**Other reviewer- Thank you all for reviewing my story! Keep checking for updates! Chou! **


	4. The Advertisement

A/N: Shuichi has tried everything so far! Not eating, exercising… what's next? Will he get professional help? Could be! You shall now find out, won't you?

Chapter 4: The Advertisement

Shuichi and Yuki came home that day tired as mules. Once they were both in the house, Yuki went to take a shower, and Shuichi just plain passed out on the floor! And it wasn't just the working out that had them fatigued, it was their "special training" program that beat them to the core.

_Earlier…_

"_Nyaaa!… Yuki!" The vocalist screamed out his lover's name in ecstasy once they had reached the epitome of their activities. Yuki's grunt was low and strangled. This was the only thing he would look back on as fun during their visit to the gym. They pulled apart from each other and panted heavily on the floor, exhausted from the escapade. _

"_W… well…" The author huffed. "… I think we lost some weight." He half smiled, brushing Shuichi's hair out of his vibrant lashes._

"_Y-yeah… I hope so." He smiled back, regaining his composure slowly. Once the two had took a quick breather, they grabbed the clothes discarded a few feet from them and began putting them on. Both had made sure not to leave any traces where the naughty deed had been done. Hiding behind the smoothie bar was a good plan after all._

_Yuki checked themselves out, and as they were walking out the door, his arm around the singer, the blonde slapped the cute little butt that was swaying side to side, taunting his eyes. The boy yelped in surprise and pinched the older man's butt to get back at him, causing Yuki to jump a bit at the assault. _

Now…

The rest of the evening was going to be relaxing and full of leisurely activities. Yuki's plans: Read, eat dinner, watch TV with his baka, write more of his story, and go to sleep early. Usually the writer wouldn't end his session with the laptop early for anything, but tonight he didn't think he'd be able to stay awake too well.

Shuichi's plans: Watch TV, eat veggies, play his PS2, spend time with Yuki, SLEEEEEEP!… and then eat midnight snack (strawberry pocky). But he would do all this AFTER he checked the scale.

Stepping onto the contraption, Shuichi gulped. What were his numbers this time? The same? Had he lost some? Had he gained some! What was it!

Meanwhile, the novelist had just gotten comfy in his red plush arm chair that resided in his private study with book in hand, when he heard a long, lugubrious moan echoing throughout their flat.

"What in hell?" The man got up begrudgingly, and headed to where this lamenting voice came from. Of course… inside the bathroom…

"What are you complaining about now you brat? I'm trying to relax while you're in here whining my ears off." He glared at him with a slightly ticked expression.

"The numbers Yuki… they've gone up!" He cried, latching onto his partners pant leg pitifully.

"Well, I said that you wouldn't get any results."

"No! But we worked out for so long! How can this be the spoils of my labour!" He looked down into his clenched hands. A mellow dramatic Shuichi, was a _handful_ of Shuichi.

"Well, you do sneak in some pocky sticks in the middle of the night. What, you think that your stomach's asleep and won't know about it?" He smirked. By the shocked look on the boy's face, that's exactly what he was thinking.

"N-no! Don't you dare blame it on the pocky, Yuki! It's your fault!" He pointed unsteadily at the blonde.

"What? How is your little problem my fault?" Now what was the brat rambling on about?

"If you hadn't… done _that_ to me back at the gym, then I wouldn't have gotten this extra fat!" Tears formed at the corners of his eyes.

"How can I make you gain by having sex with you?" Now he was really confused. Wasn't that supposed to have the opposite effect on a body?

"Well… you know that one part in love making, where you… ya know… put stuff in me?" He blushed at his words, his naivety showing a great deal.

"Hm? Oooh… I see." He grinned playfully. You mean the part where I bring you to the brink of pleasurable insanity and I release my essence into your hot passage?" He loved teasing.

"Y-yes! That!" Shuichi's face was about to explode with red.

"Ahhh… so you think I added on some weight by doing that?" He eyed him.

"C-could be…" The boy looked at his warily. Where was the author going with this?

"I see…… in that case, I guess we just won't do it anymore." He shrugged and made his way back to his study.

"Huh? What do you mean we won't…" Slowly, it started making sense to the singer. His lover was denying him… "WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE WON'T DO IT ANYMORE! No Yuki! That's not what I wanted!" He chased after the man into his work area, pleading him to reconsider.

In his study, Yuki was finishing up his recent novel, content to know that he would get it done in time for the weekend. His book was about a woman who was struggling to make it into the acting business of Broadway theatre, and she fell in love with one of the cast members for a play she was starring in. It was mostly a drama/romance piece, but Yuki knew that it would be a big hit at the stores once it was published. Unlike all his other stories, this one concluded with a happy ending. The main conflict of the plot was how the newborn actress had become too obsessed with appearances in theatre and almost began looking past the love she felt for the man. But he was the one that saved her from the vanity world that clouded her mind. It would definitely be a tear-jerker.

Meanwhile, someone in the Eiri Yuki household was NOT having a happy ending. Shuichi pouted to himself, his knees tucked up under his arms, and watched TV solemnly. His own lover had just said for them to lay off the lovemaking until after the magazine shoot… which was in a whole week! Now, the kid was hungry, deprived, and lonely.

Yuki heard the small whimper emit from beyond his study room door, and smiled. If that didn't get the boy to stop complaining about how he kept gaining weight instead of losing it, then he didn't know what would! And with all the extra time at night, the novelist could now work on the last few chapters of his book in peace and hopefully finish early. That would be a first.

"Sigh… now what?" The vocalist rested his chin on his hands. There was absolutely nothing to do now. He couldn't keep himself busy with any of the things he like to do (mentioned earlier), and he didn't have work today. There wasn't anything entertaining on the television to watch, and Yuki was locked up in his study… in other words, boredom rang over Shuichi's ears like a snail on a one way track.

It seemed that nothing had been able to get him into shape. Not eating was a failure (and bad for his health), the gym stunk (literally, except for that last part…), and he couldn't think of anymore options. He pondered whether he should give Hiro a call and ask advice on how to lose weight… but thought that if he asked that, his best friend would get the wrong idea and think that Shuichi was implying that he was fat (which he's not). And he didn't want the guitarist to be mad at him for that.

"What'll I do? I can't just sit here on the couch like a sack of lard! I need to do something about this!" He told him self determinedly. Shuichi bounced off the sofa, and left to a different part of the condo to do some intense thinking… the bathroom.

The boy didn't exactly go to the bathroom, but merely just sat on the toilet seat, waiting for anything useful to come to mind. For some reason, thinking over stuff in the restroom calmed him, and helped the singer to concentrate more. Of course, he usually _did _have to concentrate when in the bathroom… but instead of explaining that in further detail, Shuichi tapped his finger against his cheek impatiently, waiting for an idea, ANY idea to pop up in his head.

"Darn it! What can I do to make myself skinnier!" He banged his fist into the side of the sink and noticed that something fell from the top of the counter that he hadn't seen when he first came in. "Huh? What's this?" He skimmed over the job listings section and moved on into the advertisement area. And then… he found a product that was the salvation to all his problems. He read the advertisement slowly and thoroughly:

"_Are you looking for a way to make yourself skinnier?"_

"Hey! That's exactly what I just said!"

"_Then look no more! The TW1 pill is guaranteed to slim down your waist and hip line in less than a week! Try it today, and if you aren't satisfied, we'll give you your money back!" _

Shuichi's eyes sparkled with delight. "This might be the answer to my weight loss problem! Alright! And the name of the pill has the number 1 in it. Just like the magazine I gotta model for!" He squealed. Below the picture of the subscription box was the phone number to order the pill, and the first thing the pop star did after he was finished reading every warning or caution sign on the label (which none of them related to him), the boy immediately called, asking for one box of their prescription right away.

"Yes! Maybe now I can finally lose those extra pounds!" He chirped and buzzed his way into the kitchen for his midnight snack. It was joyous occasion. What the hell? He couldn't resist.

A/N: Sorry for not updating sooner! This week, I had to write an essay, make a folder thingy for English, study for a US History test, do my bible study homework, go to piano lessons, after school band practice… not to mention that it's homecoming week and I'm a sweetheart for the parade! Yup, I am the sweetheart for the anime club at our school. And I have an escort named Billy who I shall be riding with in the parade! It'll be fun. My dress is all sparkly and gold… I can't stop looking at its shininess… anyway, thanks for your reviews everyone! And I'll try to add on more chapters soon!


	5. Popping the Pill

A/N: Ho ho! Seems like Shuichi has found something interesting in the news paper… but will this certain pill really help him get skinnier? Or will he be walking on thin ice? Tch! You'll have to find out! GRRR! I am so MAD! The stupid homecoming parade got cancelled because of RAIN! It hasn't rained here for 2 MONTHS! And on that particular day, at THAT particular time, it decides to RAIN! That REALLY BUG THE CRAP OUT OF ME! I was devastated when I found out that I wouldn't be able to be in the parade! It was my first year of being homecoming sweetheart for the anime club and it's ruined! Walking on the football field in our pretty outfits was nice too, but the parade looked like so much FUN! I am sad… but I'm over it now. I just put in the feelings I had two days ago. So no worries! And one of my friends made fun of me when I told them about it. That made me upset, but I'm over that too. And I forgive them. Anyway, on with the fic!

Chapter 5: Popping the Pill

Yuki glared back at the cursor on the computer screen, winking at him stubbornly. He didn't have the urge to write at the moment, and didn't wonder why. His little pink-haired lover hadn't been spending as much time with him as he would usually. He knew that the kid was frantic over his diet and all, but did Shuichi really have to go this far to get thinner? Before he knew it, the boy would probably have his bones sticking through his skin! Though there wasn't any sign of that yet, it was still a possibility. The kid even suggested liposuction at one point… Yuki didn't even respond to that statement, just bapped him on the head and continued working. That should have been a clear enough "no" for him.

Now, Shuichi wasn't a self conscience person, if he was he wouldn't be able to wear all those goofy outfits on stage AND outside of work. But something about this particular magazine shoot had the punk on edge. Shuichi was never nervous for interviews or performances, but he acted as if the apocalypse was coming with "The ONE". What was so special about it anyway? Surely it couldn't have been more important than Yuki, right?

The blonde wasn't in a mood to type at the moment, and decided to shut off the humming lap top. It was Monday, early evening, 6:28 PM. Shuichi would be home in two minutes, and before the condo would be filled with shouts and giggles the author grabbed a beer from the fridge, taking a few swigs from the aluminium can. Maybe he'd have a talk with the baka today and confront him with the truth… that if Shuichi lost anymore weight, he'd break in half when the novelist was pounding him into the mattress… well, maybe he wouldn't say it quite in that context, but something like that may get the singer quit this foolishness. And besides… he had to admit… Yuki _did_ miss the ball of fluff that bounded into his study and greet him with that cute, innocent smile on his face.

A knock on the door beckoned Yuki to answer it's calling. It was probably his lover who forgot the house keys again. Slowly, the man dragged his feet over to the living room and opened the door leading into it. But the person on the other side was not who he expected. Instead, a man clad in a brown jumpsuit appeared, a small smile pasted onto his features. In his hands he held a small brown package with Yuki's address on it.

"Here you go, sir! Just sign your name here on this paper and you're all set." He bubbled up, holding out the package and a pen to the writer. When had he ordered a package? Did they get the place wrong? But the label was addressed to this apartment. So who sent this to him?

"Hello? Sir?" The UPS man lowered his head to look into the eyes of the silent blonde.

"Huh? Oh, right." Instead of questioning anything, Yuki took the pen and began signing the different blanks on the form.

"Are you Shuichi Shindou-san?" The man asked.

"Uh, no. He's not here right now. Is this for him?"

"Ah, thank you." He smiled again and rolled the contract up. "You have a nice day." He waved.

"Hm." Yuki raised his hand a bit then dropped it lazily back down to his side and headed for the kitchen.

He should have known it was for Shuichi. He usually did get all these crazy presents from his obsessive fans, so maybe this was one of them. Yuki fondled with the small box for a moment and observed it more closely. It doesn't say who it came from. There's no return address. For all he knew, this could be a bomb by some lunatic from jail or an escapee from the asylum (which was a pretty slim chance)… or a tracker disguised as a pin for Shuichi to wear on his jacket from an obsessed stalker. The possibilities were endless to what could be inside that package, and most of those possibilities were life threatening to Yuki. Maybe he should check to see what lay within the confinement of the compact brown box… but Shuichi may be upset with him if he started rummaging through his stuff. But what if a cloud of toxic pollution suddenly was sprayed out of the package into the kid's face and killed Shuichi!

…………

Okay, maybe the blonde was getting a little bit too paranoid for his own good now… oh well. They had never received any harmful mail at their door before (besides that one bento box a fan sent Shuichi which turned out to have been left in that package longer than they thought… the boy was blowing chunks from food poisoning for a week.) So why dread it? And if Shuichi is the one that ordered it, then how bad can the thing be? It was probably a stuffed animal or some new flashy accessory for his concerts… but how 'flashy' could that object be? What if Shuichi had become so bold as to order something that happened to be a certain 'toy' for their pleasures? What if this something was a device that was going to be used against Yuki himself? He could just imagine it now…

"Yuki… come. And be part of my most erotic fantasies." The pink-haired boy advanced closer toward the author, a predatory gleam in his eye. And from out of the package, he pulled a…

"NO! I WILL NOT SUBMIT TO YOU! THAT THING WILL NOT CONTROL ME… NO MATTER HOW GOOD IT FEELS!" The novelist screamed, unaware of the reality still existing outside his traumatized mind.

"Um, Yuki! Are you okay?"

The writer whirled around to find his said lover standing in the doorway of the kitchen, a slightly perturbed look on his face.

Crap. Did he just hear what Yuki unconsciously shouted? Probably…

"Uhhh…" For once, the great romance novelist Eiri Yuki was at a loss for words. Count on the great vocalist Shuichi Shindou to leave him speechless as always. "Is this yours?" The older man held up the package with one hand, rotating it around for Shuichi to see.

"GASP!" He gasped… "YAY! IT FINALLY CAME!" The boy made a leap over to his mail and picked it up out of Yuki's hand. "Wow! It got here so fast too! Maybe now I can-" Shuichi stopped his sentence short and glanced up at his blonde lover, who was staring down at him suspiciously.

"So you ordered it yourself?" He asked.

"Uh, yeah! It's just something that I uh… need for fun! Ya know?" The boy lied. He couldn't tell Yuki that he was going to take a pill that would rapidly make him thinner. He remembered the man saying once that any drugs taken by the singer would _never _be good for him. And if he found out about this certain drug, Yuki would DEFINITELY confiscate it.

"I see." Yuki couldn't just ask Shuichi if there adult toys waiting to be played with inside that box. First of all, if he was wrong about it, then it would be the most embarrassing moment in Yuki's life. Second of all, he didn't want to offend the young singer if he was wrong. What if the boy thought that _he_ thought he was a slut! That would not pose well for either of them. Though it wouldn't be too bad if they did use a few of those sexual devices every once in a while. He wondered if Shuichi even _knew_ what a dildo was…

"Okay. Just come out and get your own mail next time. I'm busy."

"Um, right. S-sorry!" The boy slinked away with the package under his arm, like he was trying to hide it, and headed for the bedroom.

"Crap… maybe he really _did_ order some kind of… toy…" Yuki sighed nervously, and snatched a beer out of the fridge. Who knew Shuichi would turn out to be this much trouble three years ago?

"Phew! That was close! I think he was on to me…" The pop star sighed with relief. At least Yuki didn't pursue him any further after the first question. "Now! To open my little fat-sucker!" He squeaked and began tearing off the tape that stuck firmly to the brown box. After he had dumped all the small, white, foamy things onto bed (which are so much fun to snap and break, by the way) he reached for the burnt orange bottle resting in between the fluff.

"Here it is!" He hugged the container tightly to his chest and pulled it back to read the label. "Let's see… yup! This is it! The pill that's guaranteed to make you skinnier in less than a week! Now I can finally get in shape for the shoot!" He bounced on the bed happily, and examined the bottle.

"Hm. I know the ad said you only had to take one for it to work, but… did they really have to just put ONE pill in the bottle? I mean, what if it's a defect and doesn't work at all? I'll be screwed for sure!" The boy opened the cap and dropped the drug into his left palm. "Weird. It's a pretty big pill, but it doesn't have any of those numbers or the title of the medicine on the capsule… usually these things do. Oh well!" Shuichi bounded into the bathroom, turned on the sink, held a cup under it and drew water for the pill.

"Okay. Bottoms up!" He said cheerfully, and popped the drug into his mouth, which he soon downed with the water at his expense. "Ahhh!" He breathed out after taking the medicine. "There! Now all I have to do is wait for the results!" The singer through the paper cup away, stored the pill's bottle into the cupboard behind the mirror, and skipped back into the living room where his stoic lover sat, watching the news.

Yuki saw the genki punk hopping toward the couch with a huge grin on his face. Great… what had he planted in that bedroom of his?

"Hi Yuki! Watching the news? I'll join you!" He plopped down and scooted close to the writer's side.

"What are you so happy about?" The blonde asked hesitantly, but still keeping his cool guy exterior.

"Oh nothing! You'll see soon enough!" The younger man smiled brightly. It was a familiar smile… it was like the smiles Tohma gave you when he came to visit you unexpectedly. And to Yuki, that was NOT a good sign at ALL.

"Whatever." The Yuki on the outside said carelessly. But the Yuki on the inside… well, let's just say that his mind was off in nightmare world, yet again picturing his innocent little lover with a whip and other pleasurable toys surrounding his feet.

Shuichi was asking him in a silky, mischievous voice, "Well?… Are you ready to _play_, Yuki?" He licked the black horse whip in his hands and came closer to the vulnerable blonde.

"NO! STAY AWAY YOU PERVERTED BASTARD!"

"Yuki! What's wrong!"

A/N: Ha ha! I think that parts pretty funny. I hope you all think so too! Well, the next chapter will be about the fabulous results Shuichi is getting from his special pill! It's made him happy, but what about our overprotective Eiri Yuki? What will he think of these sudden physical changes in his boyfriend?

Sorry if our favourite author was a bit OOC in this part. Hey, you know what? I hear a lot of people who complain about OOC stuff in other people's stories, and I think it's the most retarded thing ever. I mean, people created fan fictions for a reason, to put their own ideas and episodes into the series. It's a way to express yourself, ya know? And I say that if someone wants to change a character's personality a little, then rock on! I mean, they don't all have to be EXACTLY alike their characters in the series. Otherwise that'd take all the fun out of making up your own story! You've already seen them as they are in the real stuff, so why not see them differently and in a way that'd you've never seen before? I think it's a very unique thing for people to do in their fictions. And a lot of you people who complain about it just don't have as much imagination as others. No offense, but no one can get a character's personality PERFECT ya know. Not even all you guys that criticize on the subject. Now if a person is TRYING to make their anime people in character, that's a different story. You can give them tips and pointers on how to make their characters seem more like the real things. Not put them down about it. I mean, if you're gonna say something about OOC'ness, then HELP the authors with it, don't insult them about it.

Sorry this was such a long speech. But I had to get my point across to anyone and everyone who have problems with that sory of thing. So I say this to whomever this may concern… lighten up, kay? Not everyone's a perfect writer. They're having fun because this is what they like to do. It's not like they're trying to win a best author contest or something. Anyway, see yall in the next insert!

(P.S.- I was not referring to anyone who has reviewed me in this story. You have all been great about your comments! I just had to get that out there. You guys are not to blame! I love you all!)

**DEAR REVIEWERS**

**Rebelyell59- Ah… Thanks for sharing so openly. That's very bold of you. I admire that! Sorry for not updating sooner! I'll try harder.**

**Fractured Dreams- Oh! I understand now. Ummm, I'm not too good with converting! I HATE math… but I can find out for you next time! I have a friend who is really good at this stuff, so I'll ask her. And I'll tell you in the next "Dear Reviewers", kay? Where do you live that you don't use 'pounds' as much? I've been wondering.**

**Miegyl phantom- Uh, you were kidding about the "boring" part right? -sweat drop- Uh, anyway… I shall NOT give up on my fan fictions! It's just all this school stuff that's slowing me down… sorry! Please keep checking for updates though!**

**Animelover eternal- So true. So true. Yuki's dirty mind affects us all. There went your other chapter! Time for the next one!**

**The Yaoi Pimpette- Well, good luck with those 128 yaoi stories! I'm pretty picky about what stories I save onto my fav. Stories list, so I probably won't have that many for me, heh heh. He took the pill! Now what! GASP!**

**SangoMirokuForever- LOL! I LOVED YOUR SAYING! That was SOOO funny! And it's practically true anyway! Ho ho, you are a funny man! (well, I don't know what gender you are. But that wasn't meant to indicate your gender anyway -sweat drop-)**

**DemonicDragon666- Oh, it was heaven alright… the angel choir was singing and EVERYTHING! I wouldn't be surprised if a ray of golden light was thrown upon that cute little butt of Shuichi's. But Yuki, thinking dirty thoughts of Shuichi like that… it's time out in hell for that one! LOL. JK!**

**Syaron is kawaii- Yeah, I think those machines are pretty interesting too. I like the tread mill and all that stuff. It's just fun to play with, ya know? I like your pen name. I think Syaron is cute too! I REALLY want Fai and Kuro-puu to get together though! If only it were a shounen-ai… sigh…**

**Other reviewers- Thanks for your support! And I hope you like the rest of this story. Get ready for some major starvage man! And we all know how much we HATE being hungry… eeks!**


	6. Shocking Results!

A/N: So Shuichi popped the pill last time. And when I say 'the pill' I don't mean birth control… anyway. I know you all want to find out what the results of this drug will be, so this chapter explains it all!

Well, school work has died down a bit, so I have more time to update nowadays. Lucky you! My chapters will come up more frequently! YAY! We're learning Christmas music in band right now, and it's entertaining. I REALLY hope we do well at UIL competition! That's the most important band thing of the year! Please cheer us on, kay?

Alright, here's ch. 6 of Looks Can Kill. Enjoy!

Chapter 6: Shocking Results!

"Hey, Shuichi… have you lost weight?" Hiro inquired the next day at practice.

"Huh?" The pop star perked up at that question after having drank a ton of water from singing so much. "You… you can tell?"

"Well, since you've been working out so hard these days, I thought I might mention it just in case you actually have." The guitarist smirked.

"Hiiiiroooo! I don't want people to just SAY I look good. I want them to actually say it and MEAN it!" He whined.

"Well, it's hard to tell if you have or not. I mean, when you're as skinny as you are right now, the only way I could definitely see results is if your ribs were jutting out of your sides.

"Eeew! Hiro that's gross! I want to look thinner, not like a skeleton!" He cringed at the thought of skeleton Shuichi clanking around like a kabuki theatre puppet on stage.

"Yeah. Yuki-san would be horrified if he saw you in that state." The red head laughed.

"I wouldn't doubt it…" The singer sank down into a chair to rest and gulped down more water. In a diet you always had to drink twice as much water as you usually do. That's what he learned on-line.

"…… Seriously Shuichi… have you lost weight?" His best friend sounded more concerned now for some reason.

"Well, I'm pretty sure I have over time. Otherwise, all my exercising would be in vain!" He cried, dramatically crumpling to the floor.

"So, when will you be satisfied with how you look for the shoot?" He asked curiously.

"…" The boy had to think of this for the moment.

'He really doesn't KNOW?'

"I don't know." He answered. "I guess whenever I feel like it's exactly how I want it!" He smiled and headed out of the recording room.

"Shuichi-"

"I'm going to the bathroom." He waved without looking back.

"…" Hiro stared at the door mindlessly. He was worried about his friend. Shuichi had never been this dedicated to doing something since he started singing. Didn't the world and his fans already think he looked good?

In the bathroom

Shuichi splashed some water on his face and shook his head roughly. The vocalist gazed at himself in the mirror, squinted, lifted up his shirt, and checked his belly flab. It was still the same as before he took the pill. Why wasn't the darn thing working? He KNEW he should have gotten two bottles of this. The one he had taken was probably a defect. But the directions on the container said it would take up to a day or two for the medicine to take affect. So the boy would wait patiently for the drug to work, hoping that grams of fat were being burned off by the second.

Meanwhile, Hiro was beginning to worry about him, when the guy really didn't have a thing to worry ABOUT. People go on diets every day, why was Shuichi's any different? The guitarist had always been protective of his best friend, but that was usually from Yuki. Maybe the red head was taking it too far this time. Well, whatever the reason, Shuichi wouldn't give up his diet. Not until he lost those extra pounds… uh, how many pounds had he decided to lose again?… oh well. He'd remember soon enough.

Back in the studio

"Hey, Nakano-san. What's up with Shuichi lately? He always seems to be preoccupied with something in his mind." Suguru pointed out.

"…"

"Nakano-san?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry. What about Shuichi?" He smiled.

"… Nevermind." The keyboardist waved it off and went back to testing out some sounds on his synthesizer. Now BOTH of his band mates were acting strange.

&:&:&:&:&:&:&:&:&:&:&:&:&:&:&

Yuki sat on the plush blue couch in his living room, drinking some dark coffee and doing nothing in particular. Today just didn't feel like a work day to him. Taking a break like this every once in a while calmed his muscles at times. Half the weight of stress on his shoulders was lifted, and at the moment the novelist didn't seem to have a care in the world. His lover would be happy to know that he was taking a day off from his constant typing on the lap top.

Speaking of the baka, Shuichi hadn't pulled out anything odd from his package last night, which was a relief.

"I guess, it wasn't anything threatening to my pride. Probable pocky or something…" But he knew well enough that the boy wouldn't be catch himself dead eating the delectable candy, for it might 'expand his thighs to the size of an elephants', or so the younger man said himself. So, if it wasn't food, or fan mail, or a sex toy… what could it have been?

After five minutes of pondering over the subject, Yuki shook his head and grunted. Why should he be wasting time thinking of what mail the brat receives? It was most likely something childish and stupid… like him. Instead of dwelling on the matter anymore, the author turned his attention to the coffee table in front of him, noticing a certain magazine resting on the surface. The blonde picked it up and immediately recognized the name that was in big bold letters… The ONE…

So this was the infamous teen idolized magazine that his genki little companion had been raving about for the past two weeks, huh? On this week's issue, there was a girl on the front with hair like two broomsticks, eyes that looked like they were about to sink back into her head from all the eyeliner and eye shadow, a showy, tattered top, and spotted pants barely revealing her combat boots underneath. But through all that useless clutter, the woman had a GREAT body figure and full luscious lips that pouted out into a mean scowl. In her hands was a bright red guitar, ready for stringing. No wonder Shuichi wanted to look tip-top shape for the shoot. People like this on the front cover were _definitely_ competition compared to other local groups of bands and movie stars out there. Yuki had seen this particular girl's ad posted everywhere outside of Tokyo's buildings and on TV. She obviously was a very popular singer this year. BAD LUCK was also a well talked about group too, but for them to get a gig on The ONE must be a big deal for their image.

While Yuki supported the lovable singer in situations like these, there was something about this one gig that he didn't like. Shuichi was a little TOO obsessed with this shoot. He had never gone so far as to try and get skinnier for modelling like this. What scared the writer the most was that Shuichi was already skinny as it was, and he didn't think the brat knew that. This diet didn't seem like a good idea from the beginning and at first Yuki was just playing around with the vocalist about everything being automatic fat boosters. But now the whole thing was going a little too far. And so, in conclusion, Yuki was going to cease this nonsense of dieting from Shuichi and order him to quick the program. It wasn't working for him anyway, so why continue?

&:&:&:&:&:&:&:&:&:&:&:&:&:&:&

Shuichi had arrived home early that day and brought some seafood okinomiyaki for dinner. The two lovers were currently sitting in their respectable seats and eating the rare Okinawa delicacy. They didn't get much of this kind of food in Tokyo since they weren't beside the ocean like other Japanese cities were, but a vender was selling them, so the boy decided to buy a few for tonight's meal.

"Mmmmm… I LOVE this stuff! I haven't had it since I was little." The vocalist hummed happily.

"Hm. It's good." Yuki kept forking in small bites ten seconds at a time, while Shuichi was shovelling slices of the treat into his gaping den of a mouth at 0.1 seconds a bite. Though it was an enjoyable evening for the both of them, the author knew he had to break the ice to his companion sooner or later. So once they were done washing the dishes… together… Yuki got the younger man's attention.

"Hey. Brat."

"……"

"Hey… hey!"

"……"

Sigh… "Shuichi."

"Yes?" The singer turned around cheerfully like his name had just been called. Did he plan that?

"I need to talk to you about something." He finally said straight out.

"Really? What about?" The boy blinked thoughtfully at the novelist and laced his hands together obediently at his front.

"Well… it's about-"

DING-DONG!

"Hold that thought Yuki!" Shuichi scurried over to the front door and opened it. An excited squeal emitted from the boy as a woman handed him a box and left. Shuichi came tumbling back in with the package and set it on the kitchen counter. Great… not another box…

"Yay! Look, Yuki!" The pop star beckoned the man over to his side and shredded open the parcel. Inside lay a least a dozen magazines… all issues of The ONE…

"See? Look at all the pretty people on the covers and stuff! That's where I'm gonna be Yuki!" He grinned until he could grin no more.

"Hm."

"Men and women are allowed in the shots, and the best part about it is how the magazine talks a LOT about bands, upcoming music, movies… and this weeks issue will be about BAD LUCK!" He cheered.

"…"

"Sigh… they're all so skinny." He rested his chin on his wrist and outlined the figure of a famous super model.

"You are too." The blonde attempted to save his little baka by complimenting him.

"Not NEARLY as skinny as these people are. I bought these so I could hopefully get some tips on future advertising for out band, and how to handle interviews. Our last public displays have been… kind of outrageous… so maybe I can learn from these guys in here!" He started flipping through the pages of one of the issues and marvelled at the heavy makeup one woman was wearing.

"You don't need to look thin to be popular."

"True, but what if you were BOTH, huh? We'd get twice the publicity!" Shuichi chirped.

"Shuichi, I really don't think you should-"

"Oh, I'm so pumped, Yuki! In a few days, I'll be on one of the most popular magazine covers in all of Japan! BAD LUCK will soar through the roof at the rate we're going. And those fruit and vegetables I eat during lunch at the studio are actually helping me with my energy for singing! I'm so glad that I decided to go on this diet. And it's partly thanks to you, Yuki!" He smiled brightly up at the writer.

He didn't know what to say. His brain was all out of tactics. And what the boy just said about him encouraging the process of going on a diet… he didn't know whether it was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Thank you Yuki!" The pink-haired singer hugged his older lover tightly. Yuki didn't know what else to do but embrace him back. Shuichi seemed so happy… he couldn't let him down by telling him to forget the diet. This was much too important to him. Maybe the blonde was just paranoid. Shuichi may have been irresponsible at some times, but he wouldn't go so far as to starve himself or anything. Yuki knew that the kid couldn't live without food, so he had nothing to worry about… right?

&:&:&:&:&:&:&:&:&:&:&:&:&:&:&

The next morning, Yuki awoke to the high pitched squeal of a particular singer.

Lazily, he dragged himself out of bed, and trudged toward the bathroom where the noise came from. Inside he was Shuichi patting his stomach with glee, like a child petting his new puppy.

"What are you doing?" The slightly annoyed author grumbled, still in a state of grogginess.

"LOOK! See Yuki! I've gotten thinner! My diet is working!" He pointed to his figure and turned sideways for the novelist to get a batter perspective.

"Huh? I don't see anything different." The older man scratched the back of his head and yawned.

"No! Look closer Yuki!" Shuichi pointed more stubbornly toward the line of flab below his navel… which was nowhere in sight. He was right. He had lost some tissue fat. But that fast? In a few days? How! It was there yesterday, wasn't it!

"And I think I lost some weight on my hips too!" He poked his thighs and giggled. "This is working out great!"

"What's working out great?"

"Huh?… Uhhhh… just… the exercising, ya know? And the diet itself! I mean, look how many pounds I've shed!" He almost let info. About the pill slip. Phew!

"Hm." Yuki couldn't believe it. How did the brat manage to lose that much fat in just, like, four days! Maybe some new dieting food he bought? Or a different work out program? Whatever it was, the author sure as hell didn't see this dramatic change coming!

"Yay! I have a flat stomach, Yuki!" He patted it.

"Uh, wasn't your stomach already flat?"

"Well, not enough." He smiled.

Geez, not enough of this, not enough of that… NOTHING was enough for this little punk! Now he was _really_ starting to sound like a snobbish rock star.

"Eeeek! I'm so excited! I'm gonna call Hiro about it!" The boy leaped over to the phone and dialled his friend's numner, walking into the kitchen all the while.

Yuki just stared at the floor, still in mild shock. After a few more minutes of contemplating, the man sat back on the couch and picked up a book to read. Hoping to get his mind off the puzzling subject, he began pretending to read, the concept of Shuichi losing that much weight in so little time still orbiting around his head.

A/N: Okay, that was a boring chapter. At least to me it was. But hopefully the next ones will be more interesting. YAY! Tomorrow is Fair Day! I'm going with lots of my friends (including DatenshiBlue39) to ride rides, eat a LOT of food, play a few games, look at exhibits, watch shows, and try a deep-fried oreo for the first time! I hope it tastes good. It sure sounds good! I wonder if anyone reviewing my story here lives in Texas and will be at the fair without me even knowing it… O.O It's kind of a neat concept to consider… has anyone here ever thought of that? That one day you mat be looking at or talking to someone who has read your fan fictions? That'd be cool. Well… I'm tired! And since it'll be a big day tomorrow, I think I'll head off to bed. I hope you at least mildly enjoyed this boring chapter… see ya!


	7. Stuffed Face, Empty Belly

A/N: Nya ha! It's been so long since I've written something. I really need to get back into the swing of things. Anyway, I was playing the SIMS 2 with two of my friends and my boyfriend and his twin brother, and we did the funniest things! My boyfriend's brother was dressed as a donkey mascot for the football team… it was hilarious! I just noticed that whenever you go to the bathroom in that game that your pants or skirt stays on. The SIMS are stupider than I thought. LOL! Then a computer SIM made one of my friends cry, so her sister slapped the girl and told her to leave. That was sooo great, cause I didn't like that girl either. Well, better get on with the story. Read the review responses at the end!

Chapter 7: Stuffed Face, Empty Belly

Yuki watched with utter horror at the display before him. The twenty-foot skyscraper of food resting warily on Shuichi's plate cast a shadow that stretched from the kitchen floor almost into the living room. And the boy was scarfing the mountain of breakfast delights as if it were normal… what the heck was going on here!

"Uhhh, hey… tell me if I'm mistaken, but isn't that the same amount of food an elephant receives for the entire DAY?" He asked as calmly as his senses would let him.

"Oh, Yuki. You're so silly! Joking like that… I think you're growing a sense of humor!" He cheered happily between large obnoxious bights of his French toast.

"And I think you're growing an enormous tummy if you don't stop eating like that. Weren't you on a diet the last time I checked?" He eyed him.

"I still am! But it's so funny! This diet that I'm trying now lets me eat and eat and EAT without getting any bigger! Isn't that amazing Yuki?" The vocalist smiled with food stuck between his teeth.

"Yeah… amazing…" The novelist furrowed his brow in disbelief. How could one single diet, which he had only been on for one day, suddenly work so easily like that? It was almost too good to be true. Maybe he should ask the teen exactly what this program is.

"Yikes! I'm late!" Shuichi gobbled down the last bits of food still lingering on his plate, grabbed his pack, and kissed Yuki on the cheek. "Bye darling! See you later!" The pink-haired singer skipped through the front door before the author could protest against his choice in nick names.

"Sigh…" What the hell was wrong with that kid? He should have known since the day he met him in the park that he was a little messed up… with that ridiculous pink hair of his. Of course, he himself wasn't too right in the head either. At least he wasn't a few years ago. But Shuichi changed a little bit of that, right? They say opposites attract. What a load of BS. Did anyone warn him about the contrast he would be facing in his relationship with the brat? No. And look how the two ended up? Somehow, their differences were the things that brought them closer together. Of course, Yuki couldn't exactly say they were two peas in a pod either, right?

"The pill is working, the pill is working!" Shuichi gleamed to himself while bouncing along the sidewalk of Tokyo's streets. Today was just one of those days where you didn't care what others thought about you when you're this happy. He did a few cartwheels, summersaults, and kind of aerobic dance he could think of to express his cheery mood. Once at NG, Shuichi was STILL skipping into the halls and swinging around corners, sliding to home base in the elevator. Some crappy music was playing on the intercom, but that didn't stop the singer's attitude as he managed to make up a giddy little dance to it. Through the stainless steel doors, into the hall way, through a wooden door, and into the studio, Shuichi vivaciously yelled, "OHAIYOU GOUZAIMA-SU!"

"Hey, Shuichi! Yourishiku?" Hiro waved.

"Absolutely marvellous!"

"Dare I say it Shuichi, but somehow you seem to be happier than usual." Mr. K raised an eyebrow cleverly.

"Uh-huh! The shoot will be coming up soon and I'm totally prepared for it!" He smiled and headed over to the mike stand.

"What do you mean? Aren't you always ready for something like this?" Suguru questioned while adjusting the volume on his keyboard.

"Well yeah, but for this particular one I am SUPER ready!" He accented.

"Oh, SUPER ready, is it?"

"Mm-hm!"

"Well then, if you're going to be that ready for the shoot, then I hope you're just as ready now. Are you?" The manager asked all-knowingly.

"YUP! You bet'cha!" Shuichi swiped the microphone from its black claws and winked.

"Alright then. Begin." The gun-man gestured to the younger sixteen year old of the group as he began playing a hyped up melody on his synthesizer.

"OKAY! Let's get this show on the road!" The vocalist screamed into the mike and illuminated his voice throughout the entire recording room. Today was a very good day indeed.

'I'll have to ask him why he's so happy.' Hiro stated in his mind, smiling at his guitar, then at his best friend. 'Maybe he and Yuki are getting along.' He lost his train of thought once his solo came in.

He couldn't stand it anymore. This writer's block had gone on for too long now, and Yuki was getting tired of it. With only a minimum of twelve sentences down for his latest book, it wasn't long before the blonde got a headache from glaring at the computer screen for over an hour. Maybe taking a ten minute brake from working would clear his head. So, Yuki got up from his office chair and headed toward the bathroom for some aspirin. The novelist took one good look in the mirror of his face, noticing that his eyes were red from the constant light emitting from his laptop, and there were bags under his eyes the size of his thumb.

"Ugh… I knew I should have told him to buy some coffee before work this morning." Yuki told himself in the mirror and opened the cabinet conveniently placed behind his reflection. He searched for the right bottle, with the blue and yellow label, and grabbed it sloppily, knocking some other medicine containers off as well. With a deep grunt, the author bent down to pink up the troublesome orange objects and saw the label of one bottle in general that caught his eye.

"Hm? I don't remember buying anything like this…" Yuki further read the title and its unscientific definition. "TW… also know as-"

"YUKI! I'm home!" A light and fluffy voice echoed throughout the house.

Quickly he shoved the bottle back into the cabinet, took his aspirin, and walked out calmly like nothing unusual had happened. Retreating to his laptop, the novelist starting typing, making it seem like he was doing work the whole time.

"Yuki? HI!" Shuichi pranced over to his lover's side.

"Nn." The older man acknowledged. He tried to act annoyed.

"Guess what? We finished five singles today. FIVE! That's a LOT Yuki!" The vocalist hugged him from behind and let go quickly enough to satisfy the blonde.

"Neat. Now leave me alone. I have stuff to do. And NO snacks right now. You've gotten into a nasty habit of that and you're gonna be fat soon if you keep it up.

"Huh! No I won't! My diet is GREAT right now. You'll see. The whole WORLD will see as long as I'm in the magazine. The ONE magazine… TO RULE THEM ALL!" He did a crappy imitation of a Lord of the Rings character with the one ring.

"Yeah, wonderful. Now go. My headaches coming back." He said dryly.

Shuichi just stood there, emotionless.

"If you go, I'll let you sleep in my arms tonight."

"YEAH! Thank you Yuki!" The boy them ran off into the kitchen for food.

"Hey! I said NO SNACKS. Not until dinner time!" He added in.

"Awwww…" The singer sighed in exasperation. But he was so HUNGRY! It was almost gnawing at his stomach. In fact, he was sure that the organ sac was scraping up against his spinal chord right now, and soon his tummy would collapse inward! Of course, that's never been scientifically proven, so who knows? But… for some odd reason, Shuichi did feel a little hungrier than he usually did. And for normal people, that would mean starving. It was like something was eating away at the food recently left in his stomach and consuming it all. Like babies do when a mommy eats food! (A/N: He has no idea what he's talking about - -;).

Either way, the boy was just too famished to not eat at least a fraction of something. So, as stealthily as he could, the mischievous rock star tip toed over to the fridge to see what he could dig out.

"Aw man… nothing but fruit and veggies. I bet Yuki did this on purpose knowing I would do this…" He sighed and drooped his head in exasperation. "Well, at least he left the strawberries. How considerate of him." He said in a satirical tone, and took out the box of red delights. Hey, it was better than nothing, right? Plus, he couldn't exactly get scolded for eating a fruit, ya know. And hey, strawberries were his favorite food item, so it was all good.

He sat himself comfortably on the plushy texture of the living room couch, and popped open the plastic container as quietly as he could. "Huzzah! Finally, some food!" He reached for the plumpest one in the group. The dripping, red morsel almost on the tip of his tongue, the boy squealed happily at the anticipation. He plucked the whole thing into his black hole of a mouth and chewed with glee. Perfect. The taste was absolutely exceptional. This years picking was definitely a prosperous one. As the pink-haired pop singer mewled at the juicy sensation running down his throat, some _other_ substance seemed to be running _up_ his throat. Sharply, he threw his head forward and started coughing alarmingly. Some of the fruit must have got caught in his throat. After a curiously long while of hacking up the food, Shuichi swallowed several times so he could compress the tickling feeling left over. Once it all settled down, he glanced at his hands to notice a watery red liquid on his hands.

"Wha…? Is this-?"

--------

Yuki heard the eccesive coughing coming from outside his study and got up to check out what the ruckus was. The kid was probably inhaling too much of his marker's fumes again while drawing all over his coloring books that Ryuichi gave him. The blonde stepped into the living room and was a little taken back by what he saw. The singer, sitting on the couch, his hands covered in a red substance familiar to the eye.

"Shu… Shuichi?" He said quietly.

The vocalist looked up and smiled. "Oh! Yuki! Sorry I made a mess on your floor and coffee table a bit. I'll clean it up in a bit. I seemed to have choked on some strawberries I found in the fridge and… this happened."

The novelist stood there, dumbfounded. How could his lover talk like that while having fresh coats of blood streaming down his hands! Without a word, he briskly walked over to Shuichi, picked him up gently by the arm, and lead him into the bedroom. Confusion was evident on the smaller man's face.

"Uh, Yuki? What's wrong?"

"What do you mean what's wrong! THAT'S what's wrong!" He pointed to the sticky stuff on Shuichi's hands.

"Oh this? I said I was sorry about it! I'll clean it up!"

"You'll do no such thing! You're staying in bed and that's final!" He picked up the boy bridal style and laid him on the right side of the bed, pulling the blanket up to his waist firmly.

"Yuki, why are you all upset-"

"Shush! Get some rest while I clean up. I'll be back in a minute." He ordered, then left to get some paper towels for the living room.

The author ripped the cleaning material from its card board roll and dampened them a bit, heading toward the navy sofa soon after. He knelt down and began furiously scrubbing into the carpet, his brow furrowed in frustration.

'Since when has Shuichi ever coughed up blood before! Is this something that he hasn't told me about? I don't understand!" Yuki then wiped off the wooden table with a different towel and took a look at the substance soaked into it. For some strange reason, the blood seemed thinner and less red than it usually would be. This was a rare occurrence. Since when had blood stains come so easily out of carpet with just water? He meant to only scrub some of it away, not expecting the spots to disappear totally. Huh? Something was resting on the couch.

"Huh?"

--------

Shuichi went into the bathroom to wash off his stained hands, his brow furrowed as well.

"How come Yuki acted so rationally in there? What was the big deal?"

He dried his hands thoroughly and said to himself, "It was just strawberry juice." He threw the cloth back on the rack and headed back to bed anyway, afraid that Yuki would yell at him if he didn't do what he said.

--------

"Strawberries?" Yuki said incredulously.

So… that liquid on Shuichi's hands was… strawberry juice!

The blonde lowered his arms from cleaning the table as his hair shaded over his eyes. He didn't know why, but for some reason he was really going to kill Shuichi. And in the best way he knew how, or course (wink wink). Smirking and almost chuckling at all the foolishness that just went on, Yuki got up, dropped the paper towel, and stalked toward the bedroom, having a few good ideas of how to punish his little lover for worrying him like he did. His writer's block would be gone in no time.

A/N: Hoo boy! That'll be some fun punishment right there people! Yeah! Anyway, there's chapter 7, flying by! Next, we'll notice some major changes in Shuichi's body structure, as well as Yuki pondering over that strange medicine bottle in the cabinet. Suspense is rising, isn't it? O.O Well, talk to yall next time! Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I thought it was pretty funny.

**DEAR REVIEWERS**

**ebokku- This story may seem like an every day, real world story that almost every teenager encounters through life, but no one knows what's going to happen next, so why are there people judging my fan fiction already? First off, the vanity obsessed Shuichi in this fic is not a fairy tale image of what I want to be. I did not put my own personal feelings into the story, because I am already thin (but I'm not anorexic). The way I portray Shuichi in this fan fiction is not an image of me. **

This situation that he's in is NOT an every day problem of our society. And you'll soon understand why once you read the rest of my chapters. And what's wrong with putting anime characters into modern society? Isn't that what half of these stories on are doing? I think so.

Yes, I do have favourites on my list whose spelling and grammar are not the best, but who cares? That's not what I look for in a fic.

In conclusion… stop acting like you know me. You don't know anything about me or my life. Second, this fan fiction was written for more than just one person. So if you don't exactly "fawn" over it, then oh well. Go ahead and scan through my chapters. I'm sorry if I sound petty or childish. In truth, I am only expressing my opinion, as you have. Please do not take any offence to this, I don't want you to _stop_ reading my fic. But please leave comments like that for after the story is done, so you won't judge and you'll know what the real conflict is. Thank you.

**DatenshiBlue39- I'm not a dummy-head… L Aww, that's okay. I know you're not exactly a touchy-feely person, so I could understand your hesitation. It's just that whenever I accidentally hit people or they get hit by something/one else I have to rub that spot because it looked painful… ; I'm just weird that way…**

**Caelum Tsubasa- Thanks for the reassurance on Yuki's OOC-ness. Are you in band too! Um… trombone? No, I play percussion. And what's with the hint hint? Oo;; **


	8. No Rumbly in My Tumbly?

-1A/N: Phew! Well, I've been learning my physics pretty well… I'm definitely understanding more now that I'm putting more effort into this course. I just hope I can keep it up! Otherwise, there goes another 3 weeks of computer again. That'd be a bummer. Anyway, I have finally gotten this chapter up, but don't be too hasty for another one to come up any time soon. I'm still carrying out my punishment you know. Well, enjoy!

Chapter 8: No Rumbly in My Tumbly?

Shuichi and Hiro were using their once in a life time day off to hang out with each other, since they hardly were able to see one another anymore besides band practice. It would probably be the first day that Shuichi decided not to spend it with Yuki.

"So, I heard your diet thing is going okay. Do you think it's working?"

"Yeah! I can definitely see the results, Hiro. This way, I'll be ready for that shoot." The boy was extremely happy that day.

"I know. It'll be a great honor for you, Shuichi, to take this gig. Er, whatever it is."

"Mm-hm! I just hope that they get the good shots of me. I do have my bad sides, ya know." He struck different poses to show Hiro how prepared he was.

"I see that." The guitarist laughed. The two friends were making a quick round about the park and then heading toward a smoothie shop just down the block from there. It was one of their trademark places to be when they had something on their mind, whether it be happy or disturbing. At least that's what Hiro thought. Shuichi didn't seem to realize it yet.

"See, Hiro? This is where I met Yuki! I was right over here…" The pink-haired pop star ran over to the correct spot. "And Yuki…" He ran all the way back to a street light near a park bench. "… was right here!" He chirped, flailing his arms every which way. "Then my lyrics blew out of my hand and came straight toward him! He picked it up, said some cool lines… er, well they were more like cruel than cool, but… you get the idea. I've told you before right? Hiro?… HIRO!" Shuichi yelled in his ear.

"Huh? Wha…?" The red head shook his head looked at his flustered friend.

"You're not listening!" He puffed up his face in a pout.

"Oh, uh, sorry." He apologized sheepishly. "Say, let's go get a smoothie. I'm pretty thirsty." He smiled.

"Okay!" The singer immediately perked back up and ran ahead.

Hiro just stared at the ground mindlessly and thought to himself, 'Shuichi… when he was close up, I didn't notice but… when he was far away… he looked so much smaller than normal. Is that diet thing really helping him? It seems to good to be true that it works that fast. I wonder if Yuki-san sees it…'

"Hey Hiro!"

The guitarist looked up.

"I'll race ya to the shop!" Shuichi sprinted off in a head start.

"Oh yeah? You won't beat me so easily!" Hiro ran after him at a pretty fair pace, taking the lead in only so many seconds flat.

DING DONG

Yuki raised his head from concentrating on the coffee maker and went to answer the door. When opened, a bright n' sunny smile greeted him, complete with feathers and derby hat.

"Ohaiyo, Eiri." Tohma tilted his head to the side in a sickeningly cute way.

"Great…" Yuki rubbed the back of his neck. "Come to check up on me like always?" He said without hesitation.

"You know I always do." The boss of NG said brightly, that same smile plastered upon his face. He made his way in without any consultation since he knew Eiri couldn't refuse.

"Ah, this place still looks nice. Even after Shindou has been living here…"

"That's because I just got done cleaning it up." The novelist said, exhausted.

"I can see that." Tohma giggled a little at the state his brother-in-law was in. His hair was scruffy, he had a small wet spot under his arms where sweat seeped through, and overall he looked like he just escaped a trash compactor.

"Oh! I brought something for you!" The smaller blonde pulled out from behind his back… a box of goodies!

"…You always bring food over."

"Oh? Is that a bad thing?" The older man blinked.

"Well, no… but I _do_ have food back in my fridge, you know."

"I know, but it's usually all left over take-out and alcohol." Tohma smiled and made his way to sit on the couch. Setting down the bag of treats on the coffee table, he patted the space next to him and beckoned, "Come, sit with me Eiri."

With an exasperated sigh, which the president was used to, Yuki fell back on the dark blue cushions and rested an elbow on the arm of the sofa. There was a moment of silence that passed between the two before the novelist spoke up.

"So… why did you come here Seguchi?" He asked nonchalantly.

"Why would you think I came here for a specific purpose?"

"Because that's usually the case."

"Why Eiri, I'm hurt! Is it a crime to visit one's own brother-in-law?" The president smiled.

"No, but don't get into a habit of it." The author had pulled out a cigarette in the meantime, lit it, and began puffing it calmly. He always needed his nicotine when with someone like Tohma. The guy was easy to be around, yet nerve wrecking at the same time. It was an odd feeling to Yuki, but he had gotten used to it long ago. Unfortunately, the people who didn't know him as well had to face that strange tremor whenever they were with him.

"So, what do you want?" The younger blonde asked rudely, though Tohma was used to it.

"Well…" He began. "It's about… Shindou-san."

"Tch… figures." That's usually the topic he chose to bring up anyway. What had the little idiot done now?

"What'd he do, what'd he break, what'd he want?" Yuki asked without hesitation. It seems like he got those particular house calls from Tohma a number of times.

"He didn't do anything… I think…" The boss said unsurely to himself.

"What do you mean 'you think'?" The writer asked, perturbed.

"He's been acting differently lately. And I don't mean your every other day depressions, Eiri. His physical appearance has changed as well."

"Yeah, well, that's what happens when you have some big shot magazine shoot coming up. Oh, and may I remind you that it's the most popular magazine throughout Tokyo now?" He informed sarcastically, mocking Shuichi.

"I do know of that. I'm the one who gave him that gig." Tohma nodded. "What I don't understand is that… the boy seems to be, how should I put this… hiding something. From everyone." He added in.

Yuki eyed him suspiciously. "Hiding something?"

"Yes. One day, I called him into my office to talk to him about a certain song of his and how it needed more volume in it. The whole time while I was talking, Shindou-san was fidgeting and seemed really nervous. I asked him what was wrong, but he didn't say. He just smiled, like always and told me it was nothing important, that he was just thinking about the new song he wrote. I continued, but then noticed something else. I asked him why his shirt was so loose on him.

Yuki watched his relative closely.

"He said that… he had accidentally picked up a size 'large' in this shirt instead of a 'small'. Then he grinned and shrugged. I let him go a few minutes later, but I knew something was wrong. Usually if it was something with you, he would have spilled the beans fast. It seems to me like this is a personal problem that he's dealing with alone."

The two men looked down for a moment.

"I didn't know if you knew what was going on or not, so here I am. Do you know what's bothering that boy?" Tohma asked carefully.

Yuki thought blankly to himself, pondering over the possibilities of what was occupying Shuichi Shindou's mind. Shuichi always wore loose-sized shirts at home, but for work he always had on something either tight, stylish, or just baggy. There was a difference between loose and baggy, at least that's what Yuki thought.

'It couldn't be… the diet? Maybe that's why the shirt was so loose on him?' The novelist's eyes tensed as he filed through the knowledge in his head as to why else the boy would be acting so strange. If it was about the diet, then he didn't want to reveal to Tohma what Shuichi was doing. It wasn't the guy's business anyway to hear about other people's problems. But what if this was something that the president of NG could help the singer with? What if it _was _really about Shuichi's weight program? Then again… oh, it was too difficult to figure out during this stage of curiosity. He hadn't noticed too many things happening with the vocalist before, so he wouldn't know if there was something wrong with the diet he's on if Yuki didn't ask first.

"Eiri?" Tohma raised his eyebrow at the taller man.

"I don't think there is anything wrong. He did say earlier on this week how nervous he was about his next song because he was afraid that his fans wouldn't approve of it." Yuki lied.

"Ah. I see. So it is just anxiousness after all. That's good. I was afraid that something was happening to our little rock star." The man gave off his disturbing smile again. The author shuddered. Something told him that he knew Eiri was lying.

"Well, I'm sorry to have bothered you, Eiri. I'll let you back to your work." The short blonde stood from the sofa and headed toward the door. "I hope everything is really all right." He turned his head back for one last glimpse of his brother-in-law, and exited the condo.

Yuki wondered for the remaining time if it was the right thing to not tell Tohma what was going on. His curiosity pitched in when he heard about the loose shirts and all. What was that boy up to?

A/N: Hey everyone! Wanna hear about which characters from Gravitation I think should go to hell (pardon my French)? Okay then, here they are! Tohma Seguchi, Taki Aizawa, and Ayaka Usami! Yes, I hate them all. And I shall name which ones I hate in order. 1 being this highest of hatred. First off, is Taki Aizawa. He's number 3 because he raped Shuichi, tried to come between Yuki and Shuichi's relationship, and is annoying overall for his relentlessness. He just keeps trying to sabotage them! It's getting really aggravating. Give it up Taki! You'll always be number three on the charts next to Bad Luck and Nittle Grasper! Anyway… number two is Ayaka Usami. I hate her second because she slapped Shuichi (die bitch!), tried to come between Yuki and Shuichi (like she can _ever_ be good enough for Eiri… pfft!), and is just a weak little girl with no heart and a manipulative soul. And that fact that she and Hiro get together REALLY ticks me off. HIRO IS MINE (and all the others fan girls of Hiro's!) I mean, come on, he's practically the only straight guy in this series. And last, but most definitely not least… Tohma Seguchi. Even the NAME fills me with a burning animosity. He sickens me people! He's the worst out of ALL of them because he was always in the way of Shuichi and Yuki's relationship, he's too overprotective of Eiri (my gosh he treats him like a child!), and… he's a complete MONSTER in the manga! He even went so far as to thinking about killing Shuichi! I'm glad he didn't, but I hate him just because he had the intention to. The only thing good about Tohma is his style. It can be weird sometimes, but he's pimpin' man! YEAH! PIMPIN' TOHMA! I have a hat that looks like his. It's furry and has zebra strips on it. But enough about pimps. That's all I wanted to express in today's A/N. I just wanted you guys to know how I felt about those three particular people. I hope they all die a slow… and painful… death. I hope at least some of you agree with me! I won't love you any less if you disagree, kay? See ya next chapter!


	9. Diet Disaster

-1A/N: Well, haven't updated in forever. Yes, my punishment for getting a bad grade in physics was over a long time ago. Unfortunately, that made my mother force me to study more and harder. Therefore, depriving me of my time on the computer. But, since midterms are almost over, I won't have to study as much anymore! Woo hoo! Sorry if I've been leaving all of you hanging. I don't mean to! So here's the next chapter of Looks Kill. Enjoy!

Chapter 9: A Diet Disaster?

That night, when Shuichi got back from hanging out with Hiro, he did the unthinkable. He denied Yuki sex. Shuichi Shindou NEVER denies Yuki sex. This was indeed very odd to the novelist and left him sex deprived all night long. The boy's excuse was that he was too "tired". When was _that _ever the issue when it came to hot, passionate, steamy, sex! It definitely wasn't an issue before with Shuichi, so why now? And what had made him so "tired"? It couldn't have been the outing with Hiro, he had done that plenty of times and still had enough energy to do his usual bouncing around afterward. Something wasn't right. Was he upset? Did Hiro make him upset (though that was slightly impossible)? Did Yuki upset him somehow? If he did, then he didn't know how. They had hardly interacted with each other the whole day. Was the vocalist all depressed about that? Of course, it was his choice to go out with Hiro the all morning, afternoon, and evening, so it couldn't be that. What was wrong with him?

Yuki decided that he was becoming all too paranoid about the situation. He was just sleepy from being out and having fun all day. That happens to people, right? And Shuichi is a person, so it could happen once in a while to him too, right? Yeah. It was logical. So, with only a hint of doubt in his mind, Yuki worked on a little bit more of his story, and went to bed soon after.

-----------------

"Yawn!" Shuichi's mouth gaped open, his arms stretched up to the headboard. "That was a good sleep! I was so tired yesterday for some reason. And now that I have all of my energy back I can go on with my day!" The boy swooped up out of bed and grinned madly, an arm punched into the air. But as he stood there, his knees felt weak and his vision blurred slightly.

"Whoa… wha-?" The vocalist swayed from side to side and caught his balance on the bed-side table. "Woo! Must have gotten up too fast." He smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head with one arm. After straightening up again, he found that his eye sight was still going hazy on him. "Umm, why is everything so weird?…" Shuichi shook his head and held it with one of his hands, closing his eyes to clear the wave of dizziness. "Maybe I'm still sleepy. But I don't feel like it." He glanced over at the slumbering form of Yuki for a moment and was about to wake him up when another shot of dizziness overwhelmed him. "What's going on?" He asked himself a little worriedly. The singer fell down once more and this time barely was able to hang onto the bed-side table without knocking over the alarm clock to the floor. He hung onto it by his forearms while his legs lightly touched the carpet. And that's when the nausea hit him.

"Kami-sama… I think I'm gonna be sick…" He whispered to himself, breathing a little raggedly. Shuichi felt his diaphragm moving back and forth in brief spurts, that sickening vomit feeling climbing up his throat. Trying to hold it back, but failing miserably, he let it all out onto the plush blue carpet.

The noises Shuichi was making caused the sleeping writer to wake up slowly. At first, he rubbed his eyes and was so groggy that he thought the sounds emitting from inside their room was the television. That's when he realized that they don't have a television in this room, and this fact made Yuki sit up as fast as a catapult. When he looked around for his lover, Shuichi wasn't in bed. This made him panic and search frantically around the bed for him. After the man pinpointed where the vomiting sounds were coming from, Yuki looked over the edge of Shuichi's side of the bed and saw the little pop star hunched over low and throwing up on the floor.

"Shit!" The novelist cursed as he leaped out of bed and rushed to Shuichi's side. "Shu-" He realized that calling the boy's name wouldn't get a response since he was a little preoccupied at the moment, and instead ran for the trash can. He put it under Shuichi's mouth, but the boy had stopped right then, slightly frustrating the author. He tossed the bin aside and rubbed the singer's back comfortingly, hoping that the trauma was over. He didn't like seeing his little lover hacking all over the floor… nope, not one bit.

Shuichi's breathing was still scratchy and short, but at least the sickening feeling was gone now. His first thought after he had finished hurling was, 'What the hell brought _that_ on!' He didn't feel feverish or anything, so why was he throwing up? That's when he noticed another presence beside him. Shuichi slowly looked up and saw his favorite pair of eyes staring back at him.

"Y… Yuki…" God, he probably looked like a mess right now…

"Shhh. Come here." The author didn't know what else to say or do except hold the boy close to him in a puzzled state. Happily, yet exhausted, Shuichi obliged to that offer and crawled helplessly into his lover's arms, still breathing pretty hard.

Meanwhile, Yuki kept asking himself over and over again, 'How did he get this way? I don't remember him ever getting sick. It couldn't be just a spur of the moment, could it? Can someone get sick that fast?' The vocalist shook in his grasp. 'Maybe… maybe he's got a stomach bug or something. Perhaps food poisoning. It was probably the restaurant he and Hiro went to last night. The order Shuichi got must have been undercooked…' Yuki would sue them later, but first priority was to get his baka cleaned up… as well as the floor…

He helped Shuichi over to the bathroom and set him on the toilet seat. Grabbing a towel out of the cabinet from across the sink, the novelist then wiped Shuichi's mouth and face with it. He was sweating a bit, so might as well have gotten the perspiration off too. He dampened the cloth with water and gently rubbed Shuichi's face and exposed skin areas with it. Maybe this way the boy would feel better now that he was a little cleaner.

After the singer was done, it was time for the carpet. Yuki quickly grabbed another wet rag and laid it over the mess, being sure to rub it in real good to soak up all the liquid. He would have to get some carpet cleaner to completely get the stain and stench out, but he'd do that later. He still had to find out why Shuichi had vomited all over the ground.

Carefully, the author stepped slowly into the restroom and gazed at the pink-haired boy questioningly. The younger man looked back up at him with the same intensity. And was that… confusion in his eyes?

"Shuichi… are you okay now? Do you still feel nauseous?"

It took a while until he answered, "…Yeah. I think it's over." Shuichi rubbed his arms up and down, almost as if he were ashamed of himself. "I… I'm so sorry Yuki. I didn't mean to… to get your floor all…" The pop star looked as if he were about to cry, so Yuki sat on the tub's edge next to him and tried to reassure him.

"It wasn't your fault. I know that you didn't throw up on purpose, so don't get so upset about it. Things like that happen." Yuki patted his back calmly. When Shuichi noticed the tenderness in his lover's eyes, he sniffled a bit and ceased from crying.

After an awkward moment of silence, Yuki spoke up and asked, "Do you feel sick?"

"No." Came the droned reply.

"Then… how?… Do you think the food you ate last night was undercooked?"

"Mm. No. It tasted and looked perfectly fine. The chef there is very good with his food. He even shows all the customers the inside of their meat or whatever just to reassure them that everything is well prepared. It was a really nice restaurant. Hiro introduced to me just yesterday."

"Hm." Yuki contemplated to himself. If he wasn't sick, and it wasn't food poisoning… then what was it that made him…

Sudenlly, Yuki thought of an option.

"Shuichi…" He started slowly.

"Hm?"

"The, uh… diet program that you're on right now. I know you say that you can eat as much as you want without getting any bigger, but… what exactly _is_ this program?"

"…." Great. This was the question that Shuichi had been dreading. He knew that one day Yuki would ask it, but he at least wished it was after the shoot. By then he wouldn't be on the diet anymore and the diet pill would wear off… right?

You must have a read brocheur on this thing. Did it have any certain work outs on it explaining any side affects that might harm you?"

"… Well… not that I knew of. There wasn't anything on the thing that had any warnings except if you're smoking or pregnant or had some kind of heart problem or muscle problems like arthritis.

Yuki contorted his face in confusion. They both knew that Shuichi didn't have any of those symptoms. He didn't smoke, and SURE AS HELL wasn't pregnant! He didn't have any heart problems since he always had such boundless energy to spare, and unless the boy was lying about his age, Shuichi didn't have arthritis. No one just throws up randomly like that, so what was the problem? This was starting to bother Yuki. He liked to know what was going on with his lover at all times; where he was, what he was doing, and how he was. This little propaganda left him at a dead end, and he didn't like it one bit. He wanted to know what was wrong so he could help in some way.

From beside him, Yuki heard a soft giggle emitting from Shuichi.

"You should see the look on your face, Yuki. You look like you're about to have a brain overload in a minute. You shouldn't worry so much. I'm fine now. I don't know. Maybe it was the food last night. I mean, that can be the only explaination, right?" He smiled for the first time that morning. It sure looked like the kid was alright now. Maybe he was right in his prediction about the restaurant…

"Well! I'm gonna go eat some breakfast. For some reason, I'm so hungry right now. I guess that emptying out of my stomach has made me want a refill." Shuichi skipped off out of the bathroom and into living room that was connected to the kitchen.

The novelist still sat there, amazed at how much kenetic energy the boy had after the situation earlier. Oh well. That was the way of Shuichi.

Something still bothered Yuki to no end though, and he wanted to figure out if Shuichi really was hiding something like Tohma said. Not many problems arised when it came to the singer (at least not any serious problems) so it unnerved the older man to see his partner so down this morning.

Then… it was at that moment he realized…

"… Oh my god… Shuichi is…"

………………………………...

"… making breakfast!" The author lept up from his current postion and sprinted toward the kitchen. If Shuichi was so queezy this morning, then no doubt he would somehow hurt himself in the kitchen.

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The whole rest of the day, Yuki kept checking to make sure his lover was alright. He had ordered the boy to stay inside all Sunday until he was sure that the moment of nausea was done and over with. As Yuki put it, 'It could strike again at any time'. Shuichi knew that the blonde was over exaggerating the situation a litte bit, but it was rare that one ever blew chunks in the morning when there was no sign of sickness visible. A few times throughout the day, the vocalist would occasionally wonder outloud whether he was pregnant or not and that maybe he had morning sickness. Yuki would here him talking about this, hit the singer on the head, and explain how impossible and utterly horrifying that would be. After about seven hits on the head from that remark, Shuichi stopped suggesting it.

--------------------

"Woah! Really?" Hiro said loudly through the receiver of the phone.

"Geez, Hiro. You don't have to scream." Shuichi replied, sticking a finger in his ear to stop the ringing.

"But why? I mean, what did you eat that made you throw up this morning?"

"I don't know. Yuki thinks it's something I ate at the restaurant yesterday with you."

"Hmmm… I guess it could be possible. So it's food poisoning?"

"That's what we're predicting. I can't think of any other reason why."

"What about… your diet program? Are you doing anything to harm yourself; to harm your body?"

Shuichi gave an exasperated sigh. "Why does everyone seem to worry about that? Don't worry Hiro! I'm fine! This doesn't have anything to do with the diet I'm on."

"Yeah well, if you ask me, I still think you don't need it."

"Yes I know. We've been through this Hiro. I promise I'll get off it once the shoot is over, kay?"

"You better! I don't want a strawberry pocky stick for a friend."

"Hey! What are you implying? That I'll look like pocky?"

"IF you got too out of hand with the program." Hiro smirked into the phone.

"Well, that won't happen! So don't get your hopes up!" Shuichi stuck his tongue out into the phone.

"Ha ha, calm down Shu. I'm just kidding." He smiled.

"You better be…" He pouted.

"Hey brat! Keep it down in there!" Yuki yelled from his study.

"Oh! Gotta go Hiro! Yuki's getting cranky. But it's okay. He's just worried about me."

"I said keep it down!" The author shouted back.

"Yes. I can hear that." The guitarist rolled his eyes.

"See you tomorrow Hiro!" Shuichi waved his free arm in the air excitedly even though they were talking on the phone.

"Bye Shuichi." And with that, they both hang up.

After smiling happily to himself, the pink-haired ball of energy bounded into his lover's study and stood next to him innocently.

Yuki noticed this, glanced up at him briefly, and went back to typing. "What do you want."

This made Shuichi's grin widen. "Tee hee! You're so cute Yuki!" The musician gave a light peck on the blonde's cheek and headed off into the bathroom.

"Whatever…" The writer ignored the gesture of love and stayed focused on his work, though once the boy had left, he paused and lightly rubbed the spot on his face where he had kissed him in slight amusement.

-----------------------

In the restroom, Shuichi waited until he heard the typing of computer keys again and opened the over-sink cabinet. He searched behind a bunch of other medicine bottles until he found the right one. The TW pill. Now that he thought about it, the name was kind of weird for a pill.

Brushing that random thought aside, Shuichi examined the orange cylindrical container again for any signs of instructions or warning on it's side or bottom. Nothing. What kind of medicine was this! ALL things like these had labels. Maybe the instructions were on the box that had packaged the drug. He had already thrown it away though… great. What if it really was the pill that did this to him. He felt better since this morning, but it was still a possibility that the TW could have…

"Shuichi? You okay in there?" He heard a stoic Yuki's voice through the bathroom door.

"Huh? Oh, yeah! I'm fine! Just doin' my business." He stated a little too cheerfully.

"Alright. Tell me if you feel sick again, kay?" Then the blonde walked away.

Well, whatever it was that made Shuichi hurl, it had better not happen again. Otherwise he couldn't go to the shoot! Yuki wouldn't let him go anywhere, period! It wasn't a shock that the man was fretting about him so much. After a few years, the musician had gotten used to it, though it was still adorable of his lover.

"Are you done, or what? I need to take a dump!" The novelist grunted through the wooden door. Such a charming man.

"Um, almost!" Shuichi flushed the toilet to make it seem like he had been doing something the whole time, and rushed out soon after. "It's all yours!" He chirped and headed towards the living room for some TV veiwing.

Yuki stared back at the doorway leading out to the den and squinted suspiciously. The kid wasn't acting right, but that could've been the result of being kind of sick. Without another thought, the author closed the door and did the above mentioned.

----------

Shuichi gazed at the television mindlessly, not really focusing on the program at hand.

'I won't go to a doctor, otherwise he may find out about the TW pill I took. I can't tell Hiro about the medicine cause then he'll worry too much and eventually tell Yuki about it later on. I most defenetly cannot tell Yuki, cause then… he'll kill me. So I better keep this pill thing a secret if I want to be in The ONE. I shouldn't worry so much myself either. Everything will work out okay. I know it!' He reassured himself happily and finally began paying attention to what was playing on the TV.

-

A/N: Okay! One more chapter down! A few more to go and I'll be done! What do you think is wrong with Shuichi? Will these strange symptoms from an unknown source cease to be, or will they come back to haunt him? Will he be able to premiere in The ONE, or will this diet get the best of him? You'll find out in the remainding chapters! For now, I hope you all enjoyed this one. Please review. It's been so long since I've written anything, and I need all of your reviews to keep me going. Kay? Sank you!


	10. Shallow Front, Deep Consequences

A/N: Yeah yeah, sorry for not updating lately, yada yada yada… well, I'm back! And I better start writing now before I loose my urge to continue more of my story. See? Told ya I wouldn't give up on this fic!

Hmmm…. I think I'm gonna change my profile. First, I'll have to figure out how to do that. Well, here's chapter 10. Enjoy.

OH AND BY THE WAY… I DON'T EVEN REMEMBER WHAT DATE I PUT THE PHOTO SHOOT FOR THE ONE ON AND I'M TOO LAZY TO GO LOOK IT BACK UP IN MY PREVIOUS CHAPTERS, SO I'M JUST GONNA MAKE UP A DAY FOR IT. BARE WITH ME HERE PEOPLE.

Chapter 10: Shallow Front, Deep Consequences

"Wow, Shindou-kun. It seems that you've changed during this week." Sakano said when he noticed Shuichi's figure.

"Huh? Oh, thanks! I'm getting in tip top shape for you-know-what!" He smiled proudly and twirled around to show off his slightly different body.

"Yup. Shu sure has changed quite a bit." Hiro nodded.

"But I'm still the same old me!" He cheered.

"Hn. Yeah, but sooner or later, who knows how it will turn out." Suguru mentioned in the back of the room.

"Huh?" The group looked back to face him, blinking curiously at what he had just implied.

"What are you saying?" Shuichi said, with a hint of malice in his voice.

The younger man made eye contact with his superior. "I _said_, who knows what will happen once you take this too far."

"Who said I was going to take this too far?" The lead singer shot back.

"Well, that's what happens with every super model, doesn't it? And you're starting to act like one of them anyway. Who says that you won't begin to take on their traits?"

"What are you talking about?" This was starting to tick the pink-haired boy off.

"Just keep going on that senseless diet and sooner or later you'll be just another stick you see on TV or in fashion magazines. I mean, you are acting pretty shallow nowadays."

Shuichi didn't know how to react towards Suguru's statement, so in blind anger, he yelled, "You're just jealous!" And he ran out of the NG building without another word.

"Sigh… again?" K came into the recording studio nonchalantly.

"Suguru, you shouldn't have said all those things. You know how sensitive Shuichi can be." Hiro informed calmly, used to the whining and constant bickering that occurred between the two almost every day.

The keyboardist snorted and replied, "Well, all he does is talk about himself like he's the next big star of Tokyo. It was really getting on my nerves, so I had to let him know one way or another about how snobby he was getting."

"Well, Shuichi practically IS the next big star of Tokyo these days. You guys are, after all, near the top of the charts, right?" The blonde manager cut in.

"I guess… but that doesn't give Shindou-san the right to flaunt around like a big-shot all the time!"

"If I didn't know any better Suguru, I'd have to say that you really were envious of Shindou-san's new look." The trigger-happy American smirked.

"What! I am NOT! How can you even suggest such a thing. In case you didn't notice, I actually LIKE the healthy body I'm in right now! C'mon, you can't deny it! Have you even gotten a good look at Shindou-san lately? He's almost as skinny as a pole! I swear, he's going to turn anorexic later on-"

Hiro slammed his fists on the table, shaking slightly. Everyone turned to look at him with shocked expressions on their faces.

"Uh, N-Nakano-san?" The nervous producer addressed unsurely.

The red-head didn't say anything for a while, then after intense silence mumbled deep under his breath. "Don't… talk about Shuichi that way…" And with that, the guitarist relaxed, and began leaving the studio.

"Uh, wait Nakano-san! What about the rest of the song!"

There was no answer returned.

After some more silence, Suguru finally spoke up. "Well, I don't see any point in continuing for today. Guess I'll be on my way as too." He packed up his music and duffle bag, then quietly exited the room.

"Suguru." K called out to him before the boy got a chance to close the door.

"…… Don't try to deny it. I know you can tell too. Everyone knows, so what's the use in hiding it?" He said in an all-knowing tone, and left.

Sakano and K-san were the only ones left in the recording room.

"Great… what do we do now? Shacho is gonna be very angry…" The producer said solemnly.

"…" The gunman stared at the door ahead and shrugged. "It's true."

"Huh?" He looked up at the manager for BAD LUCK.

"This whole 'being shallow' and storming off thing has been going on since Shuichi ever started his new diet. You could say he is becoming a little vain."

"Oh, r-really? I couldn't notice at all."

"Yeah, he hides it well with his usual hyperactive self, but his physique has changed plenty much. It's too abnormal. Me thinks he's taking this modelling shoot way too seriously.

"Then what should we do?" Sakano asked hopelessly.

"The only thing we can do." K-san said grimly, which only made Sakano dread the answer even more.

"W-what is that then?"

K's eyes hardened. "We take it… to the mothership."

"Huh? Mothership?" The man blinked.

-----------------------

Shuichi trudged along the path to his shared apartment with a frown on his face. Why did everyone have to be so critical about his new look for the photo shoot. Just because they couldn't loose weight as fast as he could, didn't mean they had to pick on him. Fujisaki was always the rude one of the group, but he just went too far back there! It was jealousy. Yeah, that was it. The teenager was just jealous of Shuichi popularity and good looks. I mean, after all, he was still going through puberty…. Wait, do guys still have puberty at the age of 16?… oh well, that wasn't the point! The point was that Suguru had just insulted him back there, and, for some reason, it really ticked Shuichi off! He was totally in control of this whole diet thing… and he would NOT become like one of those supermodels you see on TV, all show-offy and nothing but skin and bones… definitely not! At least he had some supporters, like his friend Hiro and Yuki. As long as they were okay with this, he was okay with it too!

-----------------------

Hiro was also trudging down the path to his house while contemplating all the things Suguru had said in the studio. No matter how harsh it sounded, he was right. Shuichi was becoming a little too obsessive with the whole dieting thing. It killed Hiro every day to hear from Shuichi that he had lost weight. For every pound lost, a pound of Hiro's life ebbed away. Something had to be done. Someone had to tell Shuichi to stop all this nonsense. But it couldn't be him. It had to be someone closer to the boy. Someone who was always watching over him. Someone like… Yuki.

-----------------------

Shuichi came stomping into the apartment in a furry. The author noticed this right away and blinked at the enraged vocalist.

"Umm… something wrong?"

"Huh?" The singer hadn't even seen the man sitting on the sofa. "Oh… no. It was nothing. Just something stupid Fujisaki said at the studio." He clenched his fist and glared down at the floor.

"Doesn't he always say stupid things?"

"Well, yeah, but this time he just went to far!" The boy whined angrily.

"What was it then?" Yuki asked carelessly.

"Well…" Though it probably wasn't a good issue to bring up, Shuichi's emotions were too overwhelming for him at the moment, and out the complaining came. "Fujisaki said that I was all obsessive with the diet program I'm on and that I'm getting too skinny and that I'll become anorexic sooner or later!" He blurted the whole story out in a huff. He then folded his arms and sat on the floor in front of the coffee table.

Yuki stared at the pop star for a few minutes, before answering stoically. "Well… there was at least some truth to what he said…"

Shuichi whipped his head around and looked up in disbelief at the novelist. "What! You're taking his side! How could you say that Yuki!"

"I said there is _some_ truth to what he said. Jeez baka, don't you ever listen?" He growled back, and blew some smoke out from his lips.

"What was so true about what he said?" The boy pouted.

"Well…" Yuki started off. "… you are kind of getting a little to into this whole dieting process. I mean, it's not like you're gonna get any fatter than you already… aren't…"

"GASP! Are you saying I'm fat Yuki!"

"NO! That's NOT what I'm saying you idiot! I'm saying that you're too skinny!" Yuki shouted, not meaning to be so blunt about it.

"… Too… skinny? So you think that too?" Shuichi furrowed his brow.

"Sigh… listen brat…"

"Don't you 'listen brat' me!" The boy stood up abruptly as his eyes became misty. This caught Yuki by surprise. "You ARE on his side, aren't you? I can't even trust my own lover to help me through this difficult time for me, of trying to keep in shape for such an important shoot!"

The blonde twitched. "Geez, is that all you care about? That stupid photo shoot! What about your band, your music?" He shot back.

"Wha… what are you saying?"

"You know what, I think you are too hooked up on this whole magazine thing, er whatever. You need to stop dieting so much and let your body go back to normal."

"Normal! What in hell does _that_ mean! That I'm _ab_normal!"

"No! You aren't listening to me baka!" Yuki stood up fiercely and glared right into the brat's eyes.

"Then what do you mean!" Shuichi glared right back.

"You wanna know what I mean? You want to know what I think of this whole thing, Shuichi? Okay, then, here it is! You… are… killing yourself Shuichi! I've let it go on for this long, but not anymore! I can't stand to see you walking around with barely nothing but skin and bones on you! At first I didn't think it was too serious, that maybe it was phase for immature, brats like you, but now you've gone to far with this! It's ruining you!"

All the emotions that Yuki had kept pent up inside of him had finally come out. He had desperately wanted to tell Shuichi all these things for a while now, but didn't know if he should because of his 'phase' theory. Unfortunetely, he hadn't noticed Shuichi's condition worsening, and it took him now to realize how worried he was about his lover.

"It's… ruining me! What are you talking about! This diet is going to get me into the big league for The ONE! BAD LUCK will raise even higher in the charts because of this!"

"Are you doing this for BAD LUCK Shuichi, or are you doing this for yourself? Cause from my point of view, you seem more self-absorbed with yourself than your friends. Has it made you this selfish!"

Furious, Shuichi stomped over to the taller man, and slapped him square on the cheek. "How dare you! I put my friends ahead of me before I do anyone else! You of all people should know that!" He screamed loudly and strode into their bedroom, slamming the door shut.

The novelist stared at the spot where Shuichi once stood, and sighed. Maybe they had gotten a little carried away there…. But everything that he and Fujisaki said was basically true. Somehow, he had to make his lover see that. Unfortunetly, the vocalist wasn't exactly the most relenting person on earth. But neither was Yuki, and he'd be damned if he just let the boy wither away like this.

Everything had gotten pretty heated though between them, so Yuki decided to wait a while for the singer to cool down before heading on in there to talk with him again.

--------------------------

Shuichi sat on the bed and stared angrily at his knees. How could Yuki be so… so… insensitive! He had hoped that the author would be supporting on this matter.

'I guess that was asking for too much…'

He thought sadly.

It seemed like the whole world was against him now. A feeling that he hadn't experienced in a long time. It was uncomfortable, so Shuichi stood up and walked into the bathroom to take a quick shower. Maybe it would help take his mind off all the things that were going on.

Shuichi turned on the water, adjusted it to warm, and began stripping in front of the mirror.

"Hmph! Yuki and Fujisaki are just worry-warts. There's nothing wrong with me. I feel perfectly fine! And besides, my body looks absolutely-"

Shuichi froze at what he saw in his reflection.

-----------------------------

Yuki was busy typing on his laptop and smoking a cig. His train of though kept getting interrupted by his concern for Shuichi. He knew he would have to confront him again about this later, no matter how much he preferred not to. The singer's wrath was more than he could handle sometimes.

The writer continued to jot down more of his story.

_The woman paused at the ominous rewood door in front of her. Though Mizuki's heart felt like a bird trapped in a cage, she had no choice put to open it. Her love might be in there! So, with a steady hand, she slowly reached for the knob, her palms sweating slightly, and twisted the cold brass to the left. Once she got a glance at what was waiting for her in the dimly lit room, she screamed-_

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Yuki jumped suddenly at the bloodcurdling howl coming from Shuichi's room. Without another thought, the novelist jolted from his seat, his laptop haphazardly placed on the coffee table, and ripped open the door. Once he didn't see a Shuichi inside the bedroom area, he immediately went for the bathroom. Opening the door, his eyes widened at sight before him.

A/N: Yes, I know. Cliffhanger. Sorry. I won't go 'ha ha' or anything because I know how agonizingly painful these things can be. I am being very considerate of yalls' feelings. Anyway, sorry if it wasn't long enough. But I had to put _something_ up! It's been so long… I'm just as frustrated as you guys at my lack of updating! So this is what I have put up! Hope it was to your likings. See you in the next chapter!


	11. Realization

-1A/N: I'm baaaack! The culprit that held me back… my sister's wedding! It was fun. She got married to a British guy who has the accent and everything! He's really funny and teases my sister by mocking her in a girly voice. I laugh every time. I had a lot to do with the planning and helping of organizing the wedding, so that's why I couldn't write anything these past two months. Sorry! But I'll get back into the swing of things now! Alright, I'm sure you're all wondering what happened with Shuichi at the end of that last chapter. The horrible, blood-curdling scream in the bathroom and stuff. So climactic! So cliffy-hangy! Eek! Well, here it is!

Chapter 11: Realization

"Y… Yuki…" The trembling boy brought his hands up to his mouth in horror. His eyes were glassy, like he had just witnessed the death of a loved one right before him.

Yuki had his share of gawking as well. He never thought it was that bad.

"Yuki…." Shuichi tried again, having a hard time getting the words out. "I… I can see them……. My bones… I can see my BONES!" The pop star started sobbing at that point and fell to his knees. He felt dizzy and was about to throw up if he didn't block the view of himself in the mirror from sight.

The blonde novelist had trouble comprehending the situation and just stood there, still staring at his lover on the floor like he was some kind of alien from another planet.

'It… it got…… that bad?' Yuki knew for sure that yesterday the boy was definitely NOT that skinny. What had happened in the last few hours! The diet couldn't have changed him that quickly in that small amount of time, could it?

The older man was brought back to the world of reality when he heard a monstrous sob from the singer in front of him. Slowly, as if he hardly knew the boy, Yuki crept closer to him and stretched his arms, embracing Shuichi lightly from behind.

"Shuichi…?"

The young man continued to hiccup and cry mercilessly and shook his head despairingly.

"Y-Yuki… how could I have let this happen to me? I… I didn't think it was this b-b-bad! What went wrong? I was just dieting, right? How could it have done this to me? I'm a monster; a skeleton! I look like I'm anorexic! I didn't want this Yuki! I didn't… I didn't think…." Shuichi couldn't hold back anymore and went into uncontrolled sobbing.

The author felt guilty. He knew that it was getting out of hand, so why didn't he put a stop to this sooner? How did he let him become like this? How could he not have noticed the signs? When they made lover at night, Yuki felt that Shuichi was indeed skinnier, but he was usually so lost in the heat and passion that he never focused his view clear enough to see what the boy really looked like without all those baggy clothes on. All this time, the vocalist had truly been starving himself to the brink of death without even knowing it. Or… had he known it?

"Shuichi…" the blonde tried to turn the bony Shuichi around, but what he received was tug by the boy indicating that he didn't want to face him.

"No… I don't want you seeing me like this. I'm so hideous… even I can't look at myself. I'm so stupid!" The musician stood his ground and cried even harder.

Without a sound, Yuki forcefully twisted the pop singer around, emitting a gasp from the other, and pulled Shuichi into his warm, inviting arms.

This, of course, confused the boy, thinking that Yuki would be mad at him or disgusted. Why instead was he getting a hug? Or maybe it was a goodbye hug? Was Yuki going to leave him? He couldn't bare to think of that…

The blonde whispered calmly into the smaller one's ear, "I don't think any differently of you… than when I did yesterday, or the day before, or even when I first realized how much I needed you. Shuichi Shindou, you are not a monster. You are mine, and I will do whatever it takes to nurse you back to health so that you can be happy and stop those tears falling down your face."

This was a bold declaration from the usually stoic man, and Shuichi was left stunned by his statement. It touched his heart in ways that anyone ever could. And he could tell… Yuki meant what he said.

After a moment pause, Shuichi hesitantly wrapped his arms around the novelist and began crying again, only softer and more sorrowful this time. The two lovers spent 10 minutes in that bathroom, holding one another and comforting each other to the best of their ability.

--------------------

Suguru had come over Hiro's house that night to talk about the situation with their lead singer. In the midst of their conversation, the guitarist had decided to call his friend and sort things out if they could. The green-haired boy sat on Hiro's bed all the while, listening as best he could to the words being transferred between what seemed like he and Yuki. Once the redheaded musician hung up, he turned to face the younger man and looked sorrowfully into his eyes.

"Well… I think we- or Shuichi himself actually- has finally gotten across to him."

"Really? Was it from what we said earlier?" Fujisaki asked curiously. Maybe they'd be able to get back to their music sooner than he thought.

"It's not that simple Suguru." Hiro sat down on the been bag opposite the bed. "That was Yuki-san on the other end that answered. He told me the whole story. Shuichi… took one good look at himself in the mirror today after he got home (he had his shirt off), and well… it wasn't pretty what he saw."

"How could he not notice it until now? He always looked fine on stage, but when we see him at work and stuff…"

"The lights and our own concentration at the concerts probably are what blinded us from seeing this sooner. Yuki-san tried to explain to me that something about Shuichi's diet was making him smaller and smaller by the day, even hours. I think that they're going to figure out what it is that's doing this to him." Hiro granted his friend a small smile of reassurance. "Don't worry though. Now that it's all out in the open, I think Yuki-san will take care of things from now on."

Suguru smiled as well. "I'm glad. I really want Shindou-san to get back to normal."

"I believe that he will get through this. Shuichi always does." The guitarist nodded to himself, confirming his statement.

--------------------

Back at Yuki's condo, the two had calmed down for a while now and were talking with one another in normal tones of voices. Shuichi had just told his lover about the TW pill he ordered in the newspaper, and how it had affected him over time. The novelist just sat and listened carefully to the boy while holding him close.

"And, you see, that's when I started feeling bad and getting all moody. I didn't know it was happening until Fujisaki had pointed it out this morning at practice. Which reminds me, that K is gonna kill me for running off like that…" The pink-haired pop star sweat dropped nervously.

Ignoring his last comment, Yuki pondered over the situation, and with a sigh, he responded, "Didn't you mom ever tell you not to take drugs?"

"B-but it wasn't a BAD drug, it was supposed to help people!"

"Yeah, it sure did, didn't it?" He raised an eyebrow at Shuichi. The boy sunk down into the couch cushions a little more, ashamed.

"Besides, you are supposed to ask your doctor first before taking any kind of strange or new pill and see if he recommends it… ESPECIALLY a drug from an ad in the newspaper." He emphasized.

"Well, I didn't know that, okay? I was desperate!" Shuichi attempted to defend his last bit of pride and self-esteem.

"Have you ever even heard or seen this pill anywhere on TV or in regular drug stores?" Yuki asked.

Shuichi didn't reply, knowing full well that the blonde had got him there. There went his last bit of pride and self-esteem out the window…

"Anyway…" The author changed the topic. "You're saying it only took ONE pill to make you like this?" He asked disbelievingly.

"Mm-hm. It's true! The thing did wonders on me in less than a week!"

"I think you mean 'blunders'. Yuki corrected.

"Well, everything was okay at first, but…"

"But then you found out that the thing is pretty much sucking out every living fat cell in your body, right?"

Shuichi fidgeted uncomfortably and said quietly. "You don't have to rub it in, you know."

"I'm just doing that so you can realize how stupid a mistake this was so you won't try anything like this again. You tend to get yourself in a bind a lot, but not something as big as this one." The writer shook his head and looked toward the wall on his right, facing away from Shuichi.

The pop star had never felt so dumb in his life. How come when Yuki was telling him these things, it all seemed so clear and true, but when HE was sorting it out, it would all turn out to be a big mess in the end?

Shuichi's train of thought was broken by his lover's gruff voice. "Well, it's too late to consult a doctor about this now, nor call one to see how we can fix you back up. We'll just have to wait until tomorrow morning and bring you in." The novelist kept staring at the wall.

Yuki was indeed concerned for the boy. Out of all the stupid, idiotic things he had to do, why this? And the bad thing was, it wouldn't stop. Shuichi just kept getting thinner and thinner by the days. How would he end up in another week? Hopefully, his questions would all be answered at the doctor's office tomorrow. Yuki couldn't bare to picture a skeleton Shuichi sitting in the corner of the room with flies swarming his rotting carcase…

"I'm sorry…" The soft voice cut through the tension of the air.

"What?" Yuki looked back at him.

"I said…" Shuichi buried his face into the older man's chest. "… I'm sorry I kept this from you. It… it was pretty much like lying to you the whole time. And I felt so bad for it…" Shuichi tried hard not to cry, but his barricade wouldn't hold long.

Yuki paused a moment, and with an emotionless expression, pulled his lover close into a cherishing hug. "Don't worry about it. I understand how irrational you can get. It's just part of being a brat." He had to lighten the ominous mood surrounding them somehow.

"Hey! I am not a brat!" Shuichi fought back with a playful pout on his face.

"Oh, so you ARE irrational, then?" The blonde grinned down at him.

"Yuki!" Shuichi whined and rest his head back onto the clothed abdomen.

"Whatever…" Yuki shook his head and held the boy a little longer until he finally decided to get up.

"Alright. We better get some sleep. Tomorrow we're going to get you some help from the doctor." He reminded the singer.

"Mm-hm. And I'll be back to normal! Guess I'll have to miss the shoot though…"

"Yeah. It's only a couple of days away, and you can't be there in this condition."

Shuichi frowned and snuggled deeper into the blonde. "I… I know now…"

Yuki smiled, and helped the boy up to head for the bedroom.

Shakily, the vocalist walked toward their room with the help of Yuki's arm on his back and hand in his.

Shuichi had gotten weaker.

Slowly, the writer lowered the boy into the left side of the bed and tucked him in tightly.

"'Night Yuki." The musician smiled tiredly up at the saffron eyes.

The author showed a small smile back at his lavender-eyed lover. "I'll be right beside you." He reassured him, and got ready for bed himself.

Once both were safely in the comfort of their sheets, Shuichi was the first to fall asleep, while Yuki followed after, back turned toward the wall and facing Shuichi's delicate form. He swiftly brushed his fingers over the nimble bones in the boy's cheeks and frowned slightly. The life was taken out of them, now cold and plain, not like they used to be, flushed and pretty. It ached to see Shuichi like this, but, withholding the small watery feeling at the back of his eyes, Yuki's lids closed into a heavy and restless sleep.

-----------------

Somehow during the night, Shuichi had managed to roll over onto his other side, facing away from his blonde lover. Yuki slowly woke up to find that the said boy, in fact, was not even in the bed with him. Groggily, the author propped himself on one elbow and rubbed his right eye, neglecting the other for the moment.

At first he saw the wall, and then, over to his left a little, was Shuichi. But not the cheerful, morning-person Shuichi he always knew.

No… this Shuichi was standing in a frigid position, both hands over his mouth and nose, eyes widened to their extent in horror and confusion, staring at an object in particular.

Yuki's brow furrowed.

Something wasn't right.

A/N: UH OH! What has happened and why is Shuichi so frightened all of a sudden? Well you'll find out next chapter, won't ya? That's right! Last chapter is up next, so don't miss it! I'd like for thank you all for participating in the encouragment of continuing this fic. It's taken me a while, but I've finally almost finished it. It'll be one of the many stories that I will (hopefully) finish soon. ALSO! Once I get done with the last chapter, there will be a little piece of information in the Author's Note about where I got the idea for this story, so read that afterwards! Oh, and a DEAR REVIEWERS will be there too, so look for your pen name! Thanks to all, and good night… until next time.


	12. The Culprit and the Conclusion

-1**A/N**: Sob! Last chapter everybody! I can't believe this story is winding down. It's seems like forever ago that I started it. I'm glad that so many people supported it and encouraged the ongoing on it all. I'll try to make this a long one, but that is not a guarantee, so don't get yall's hopes up! But, once again, thank you all for reviewing my fic and I hope you all read my other stories too!

Oh! And if anyone likes Inuyasha, PLEASE read the one fic of Inuyasha called "Nostalgic Destiny" that I have up right now and somebody PLEASE at least review it this once! The reason it isn't too popular is because it's not a yaoi and it's about my own made-up character that is connected and acquainted with almost every single other character already in Inuyasha. But I PROMISE it will get better once I've put up more chapters and introduced my person. Even if it's a pity review, someone support me on this one? Onegai?

Sigh! With that out of the way, let's get on to the last chapter of "Looks Can Kill". Don't forget to read the DEAR REVIEWERS in the end and look for your pen name! If it isn't in there, then just know that I still love you and your review and your supportiveness! Also, don't forget that I am going to explain where I got the idea for this fic in the author's review.

And now, without further adieu, here is chapter 12 of "Looks Can Kill".

Chapter 12: The Culprit and the Conclusion

Shuichi's thin eyelids were no match for the sun's powerful rays of light struggling through the blinds of the window. The air was heavy in the room since Yuki had turned off the air conditioning before they went to bed, but overall Shuichi felt somewhat better than he usually.

Maybe today wouldn't be so bad. Plus, they were going to figure out how to stop the pill's curse at the doctors.

The vocalist yawned one more time and smacked his mouth together softly a few times, until he felt a familiar metallic taste on his tongue. He processed the strange flavor and confirmed that the taste was, in fact, blood.

"Wha-? Why do I taste…?" Shuichi then lifted his hand to his mouth to feel something slightly wet yet crusty under his nose. He pulled back his fingers to find that the blood was also on the outside of his face as well.

'A bloody nose? While I was sleeping? Weird. How did that ha-" The boy was cut off abruptly when he saw something a few centimeters away from his face.

Something that was, long, thin, and bloody.

The singer gasped, frightened at first that is was a bug or something of the sort, and leaped out of bed. But what he saw after gathering his thoughts and taking a real good look at the thing was so much more perturbing than any insect on earth.

He clasped his hands tightly over his mouth and widened his eyes like saucers. His legs began to tremble uncontrollably, and sweat was forming at his brow.

"What… the… hell?" He whispered in a raspy voice to himself.

That's when Yuki woke up to find his lover staring horridly at whatever was on the bed. The blonde scratched his head for a moment before looking down and letting out a small gasp of his own.

After a long observation of the object, Yuki quickly looked back up at Shuichi, seeing that the boy now had his hands off his mouth, and saw half-dried blood trailing down the boy's nose and to his upper lip. The author made a quick speculation over the whole bloody thing on the bed and blood on Shuichi's nose and what exactly the thing on the bed was.

"What the-" His statement stopped mid-way.

This was it.

This was the answer to all the questions they had been having.

This was the reason why all these things were happening to Shuichi lately.

THIS… is how the boy got so thin.

"Kami-sama…" Yuki shook his head incredulously.

The long, thin, blood-stained, crumpled up and dried out object lying on the bed before them was none other than a tape worm.

They both knew it too, there unbelievable faces said it all. In the middle of the night, somehow, a tape worm had crawled out of Shuichi's nose and onto the mattress, most likely dying soon after being exposed to the oxygen. It was something so strange, so unexplainable, that not even the great Eiri Yuki could begin to comprehend words to describe this outrageous phenomenon.

Shuichi didn't do anything but stare and gawk at the tape worm, his eyes still the size of plates. THAT thing had been living INSIDE him? Could things get any more sickening?

Yuki reached out his hand to touch the thing to see if it was still alive by any chance, but pulled back grimacing. How could _anyone_ be able to touch _that_? The next thing he knew, Shuichi's thin form was crumpling to the ground in an attempt to faint. The blonde rushed out of the bed and held onto the boy, who was luckily still conscious, but barely.

Shuichi propped himself on one knee, lifted his head up, and stared at the stringy creature.

"Wha… wha… Yuki?" The singer didn't know what to say. Except… why? How did this happen? What caused that thing to make it's way inside his body? The vocalist asked all these questions under his breath, but loud enough so Yuki could hear him speak.

Making sure that Shuichi wouldn't try to pass out on him anymore, the author slowly stood up along with his lover, and led him toward the living room to sit and calm down. The sight was a little too much for Shuichi.

After a moment's silence and contemplating, Yuki spoke.

"Shuichi… do you know what that was back in there?" He pointed to their bedroom door.

The boy nodded slowly.

"Are you sure you know?" Yuki asked again just to make sure.

After a pause, Shuichi shook his head "no".

'Great. He's too traumatized to answer me properly.' The writer thought helplessly. 'How's he going to take this next bit of information then?'

The blonde brushed some pink hair out of the musician's face and tilted his chin up toward him. They kissed briefly, and that's when the light came back to Shuichi's eyes.

"Y-Yuki?" He inquired meekly. "What… was that thing?"

"That was a tape worm Shuichi. Do you know what a tape worm is?"

"Uh-huh. Kind of… I know enough about them that they're really bad for people."

"That's right. Those who get tape worms can get sick, and some die if the problem isn't treated soon."

The boy nodded, his eyes still glazy.

"But, what's strange, is that the people who usually get tape worms like those are either malnourished (like poor children in Africa, quite a few of them have different types of worms), or their body was not treated with proper care somehow."

"… Well… I've been on a diet…"

"Yeah, but there's tons of other people in the world on diets, Shuichi. So how come _you_ got a tape worm?"

"Mmm…." The boy thought about it. "I don't… know…" He was still a little traumatized by what was laying on their bed in the other room.

"So… what I think, is that your diet itself had something to do with that tape worm. Can you guess what part of the diet probably nestled that little parasite into your stomach?" He asked as if he were a teacher and Shuichi was the student.

The pop star looked down forlornly as his brow hardened.

"Could it have been……?"

"Yes…?" Yuki urged.

"…… that seafood I ate a few days ago? I think it was a little undercooked… and it tasted pretty fishy." The boy scrunched up his face in slight determination, while Yuki almost died from Shuichi's never-ending stupidity.

"Argh… no baka! The PILL, Shuichi. That TW Pill!" He practically yelled at him. Shuichi flinched and shook his head to rid himself of the ringing in his ears.

"Oh! I almost forgot about that. Yeah…… hey! Maybe that's why it's called the TW pill. I get it now! TW stands for tape worm! Whatdya know!" The singer's little light bulb went off.

"It took you that long to figure it out?" Yuki rolled his eyes.

"Well, when did you?" He pouted.

"When I first saw the tape worm." The author snorted.

"Liar!" Shuichi pounded a fist on the older man's chest.

Yuki couldn't help but smirk on the inside. At least his brat was back to his normal mood. It was a little scary to see the pink-haired vocalist almost half-dead a while ago. And Yuki knew now, that everything was okay. It was all over. He wasn't sure how he knew, he just did. Something inside of the blonde was telling him, now that the culprit living inside of Shuichi for a week or so, was vanquished (in one way or another), the danger placed upon his little lover was lifted, and life would return to normal again.

Phew! Out of all the rough patches in the couple's lives together, _this_ one took the cake.

"Yuki? Are you okay?" Shuichi blinked up at the man and tilted his head slightly in confusion. The blonde was just… staring at him.

"Hm." Yuki half smirked, half smiled at him and brought the boy's head to his chest comfortingly. "Do you feel alright?"

"Um…" The musician blushed. "…. yeah. I'm fine… now…"

"Good." Yuki responded softly. "It's good to have you back, Shuichi." The writer looked down at him. Shuichi gazed back up at him, no particular emotion written on his face.

"But we'll have to fatten you back up, that's for sure. You've definitely lost too much weight."

"Hey, are you saying I was fat before?" The boy glared.

"NO!" Yuki blurted out urgently, causing Shuichi to almost fall of his lover's lap. After some awkwardness, Yuki cleared his throat and restated in a more delicate tone. "Ahem… no, Shuichi. You were fine the way you were even before taking that damned pill. And I don't think anyone would want it any other way." The blonde smiled one of his rare smiles, ending up with a giddy Shuichi.

"… Thank you… Yuki." The singer snuggled up closer to him and sighed happily, the older of the two rubbing Shuichi's back all the while.

"Oh, and one more thing." Yuki mentioned. "You know that you aren't going to be in that modelling shoot now, right Shuichi?"

-----------------------

After calling the doctor, having him come over to put the tape worm in a bag for examination, going over to the doctor's office, and checking Shuichi's condition out, they were given the proper information on how to nurse the boy back the health. The singer was ordered to stay in the hospital for a few days before getting up to walk again because he was in such a poor state. There, they gave him healthy foods and nutrition pills along with vitamins to get back all the weight he lost. Yuki spent the night next to Shuichi's hospital bed until he was released from his confinement (or at least that's what Yuki called it, though he knew it was all to benefit Shuichi).

Yuki made a report about the TW Pill to officials about how what they were doing was illegal, and sued the company that made the vial drugs with his own two hands. Shuichi also got his money back for buying the pill.

Later on, the couple went out to buy new mattress sheets for their bed, which had been "soiled" but the grotesque tape worm and the nasty blood, according to Shuichi. Yuki didn't see why they couldn't just wash back to normal, but the boy said he wasn't going to sleep in that bed until they got new, clean, white sheets. Well… Yuki hadn't had sex in a while, so he decided it was better to get new sheets if it meant the baka coming back to bed with him.

Saying that the hyperactive pop star was a glutton for the rest of his retaliation was an understatement. He ate every possibly thing he could get his hands on, from pizza to pocky, from fried chicken to frog legs, from okinomiyaki to octopus puffs (or better known as takoyaki). Yuki only watched in sickening horror as the boy gobbled down every meal at the table. It almost made the author want to throw up. How could anyone eat that much food? Well… Shuichi was a big exception, really…

Shuichi already half knew he would have to miss the modelling shoot for The ONE. It had been pretty heartbreaking for the vocalist, though, after everything he'd been through, it didn't seem like such a big deal to him now. As long as he was alive and Yuki was always there to support him no matter what, nothing seemed to matter.

Everyone at NG was glad to have their genki little singer back to normal (or whatever _normal_ was for Shuichi), and they got right back down to writing and playing music once again. It was probably the most amount of singles they'd sold since no one knew when!

"Glad to have ya back, Shuichi." Hiro placed a hand on his shoulder proudly.

"Thanks, Hiro." The boy smiled back up at him.

"Yeah! We were getting really worried!" Suguru joined in.

"Yes! And I so missed having my usual prey around for target practice too. HA HA HA HA…!" Mr. K laughed maniacally, which, in an odd way, made the singer feel a little better about being his old self again.

-----------------------

Later, at Yuki's condo, things were starting to heat up again after quite a few days.

"Nnn, Yuki…" Their dinner ignored, Yuki had practically leaped across the table to ravish the boy's neck, backing Shuichi up against the kitchen counter. Licking and sucking his way up to the singer's mouth, where the two made out in an endless battle of passion.

Yuki pulled the vocalist's waist closer towards his and placed his hand behind Shuichi's head, deepening the kiss.

Shuichi grabbed the back up the older man's shirt and held on with all his might, his hands trailing slowly downwards to that ass he liked so much. Ditto for Yuki.

After minutes of smooching, the lovers separated and breathed in deeply to regain breath.

Yuki said to Shuichi, panting. "You better not do anything stupid like that again, baka."

Shuichi looked at Yuki fervently, his eyes glistening with love and laughter. "Don't worry. I like me just the way I am." He smiled lightly and wrapped his arms and legs around Yuki abruptly, almost causing the writer to fall. "Now, what do you say we take this little escapade into the bedroom with our new, clean, white sheets?" The boy rose an eyebrow suggestively.

"I have a feeling they won't be that white when we're done with them." Yuki whispered to him in a husky tone, making shivers crawl up and down Shuichi's body and a gasp emit from his pink lips. Shuichi didn't feel so fragile anymore under Yuki's touch. Having his normal weight back felt a lot more reassuring than when he was losing.

Shuichi learned three things through this experience:

1) Never take anything from strangers

2) Don't do drugs

3) Always consult your doctor before taking any type of medicine that's affect you physically or mentally

Okay, so those three things are a little vague according to the incident Shuichi went through, but they were close enough, right?

Anyway, all felt right around them. Everything was circulating as it should, and everybody _looked_ as they should.

It just goes to show you, that no matter how empty your tummy becomes or how hungry you get, there's always someone there to fill you back up, whether it's with food, or with feelings.

_THE END _

**A/N**: AND THAT'S THE END! Though, I felt like there should have been something more to it. It was a little hasty I've got to admit, but a lot of people's endings to their stories are. I don't think we do it on purpose, it's just that it's hard to come up with a good ending, ya know? Does everyone here who writes fan fiction have the same problem sometimes?

Anyway, how'd everyone like it? Weird? Gross? Strange? Or were you expecting something more? Well, let me tell you, tape worms, no matter how harmless they look or seem, are actually very dangerous to those who carry them. They are NO JOKE! If you don't get rid of them after a while, they can be fatal. So if anyone does happen to get a tape worm in them, consult your doctor immediately!

Well, I got this little plot from an urban legend, about how a woman wanted to lose weight so she could fit into some outfits and feel young again (she was about in her late 20's). Well, she tried a pill that she saw in the newspaper and ordered it, took it, and noticed the difference in just a few days! The thing was though, she was always very hungry and ate a lot without getting any bigger! Well, after a few days, she started getting dizzy and malnourished for some odd reason. Once, she almost fainted, but caught herself in time. With this, she thought she was just a little feverish and went to bed early, deciding to see her doctor tomorrow morning. But when she woke up, she felt her nose had bled through the night, look to her side, and jumped out, stunned to find a dead tape worm on the mattress, all shrivelled up. And the rest goes on as how she'll never do something that stupid again and returned to her natural health.

Phew! Well, that's the story! Hope you like it. And now for the last…

**DEAR REVIEWERS**

**ryuu- takahashi**: Umm, you kind of told everyone, what is practically, the basis of the story before I put the last chapter up which would reveal _myself_ what was bothering Shuichi. I know that people don't really read other people's reviews, but for those who do, you might have just ruined the surprise ending for them, and I know how frustrating that can be. Please people, DON'T mention a word about it when I'm already at the LAST CHAPTER! It's like someone from the 70's coming out of the movie theater of Star Wars and saying loud and clear for everyone who is going in the theater to watch it for the first time, "Wow! I can't believe that Darth Vader was Luke's father!" But, thanks for the review anyway!

**zel-chan**: Sorry for stopping things like that. I don't like cliff-hangers too much myself. Your English sucks? Are you foreign? What nationality are you?

**shuichiandyukiforever**: I… have no idea. I don't remember when this is set because I've erased all my previous chapters so I can't find out. Sorry! But yeah, I think it's set somewhere after the whole series and stuff…

**Chacha**: I am glad you are better now! And I hoped you liked the happy ending to this story.

**Jake Da Freak Of Nature Luv…**: Well, Jake and Joe, no more cliff-hangers for you guys! Yay!

**Dejichan4444**: WOOT! COOKIE! (takes the cookie). Thanks! Well, you got your answer! (licks fingers). And thanks for being so passionate about my updates. It means a lot to me to get awesome reviews like this!

**LonelyInACrowd**: Ummm, how long did it take for you to write all those 'updates'?

**Angel And My Star**: Well, that would've been cool if he turned green, since it's my favorite color, and I know at least MY fat goes to my thighs, though I'm not so sure of Shuichi. LOL! If he was so small, then Yuki wouldn't have been able to hear him scream!

**catti-dono**: Steven King? Eek! Freaky man! I haven't read any books of his though… I should start.

**Deaira**: I hope you didn't hurt yourself falling out of your chair! Wow… I would NEVER be able to give up reading fan fictions for lent. So I guess this chapter is kind of like your reward for holding off for so long. Congrats!

**A/N**: Well everyone, thanks for reading this fic, Looks Can Kill. It's one of my best ones yet and I hope that you all will read my other stories too! Especially my poor Inuyasha one (sob). WITH NO REVIEWS! But at least I have 150 something reviews on this fic. Thank you all for your support and gratitude. I'll see you next fic hopefully! Saiyonara!


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